


the electronic letter

by eviesthirlwzll



Series: their twisted happily ever after [1]
Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: F/F, enjoy it while you can because istg you'd kill me for the ending, i'm five chapters in and istg i'll finish this because of this goddamn quarantine, mal and evie are soft girlfriends for each other, mal is still a disaster and now so is evie, no it's not 'it was all a dream', omg i cant believe its almost done, remember when i had five chapters and now i'm writing the twelfth, thats bullshit, they're all my smol dumbasses, yes this is another fake dating au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:34:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 44,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23255542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eviesthirlwzll/pseuds/eviesthirlwzll
Summary: to: eviequeen@auradonmail.comfrom: dragonmal4@auradonmail.comsubject: feelingshey, princess, it's me, mal.this is stupid, but i really want to get this out of my chest. remember that time where there was this leaked audio of me? yeah, about that, i lied.i like you, e. not just like. i like like you? and it bothers me enough to know that i would never be the one for you.but maybe if there's a chance that you read this, i might be the one. go out on a date with me?i won't be expecting an answer.love, mal
Relationships: Evie/Mal (Disney)
Series: their twisted happily ever after [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1681363
Comments: 5
Kudos: 41





	1. Chapter 1

There was no such thing as a 'Happily Ever After' in the Isle of the Lost.

There were no fairytale love stories and there were no dreams, only shattered ones smeared with darkness, bitter revenge and hatred filled with agonizing pain.

And the thing with the Isle was no parent ever had to feel pain, it was always the generation after them. It was them who hid the pain, who locked their own dreams away to make space for the revenge of their parents.

Their love turned to hatred, light turned to darkness. Chaos ensued their minds and turned their hearts to stone.

And it hurts, you know? It hurts how hard they tried to hide it with every moment passing when they knew they can do better.

Uma was hurt that she'd wanted to seek revenge against Mal and claim her turf when her dreams were only to free their generation out of their parents' grasp.

It mortifies Gil that he had to endure every passing minute of his father nelecting him for not being good enough for his family.

The situation pains Harry so much because it was him who has to look after his two sisters while their pathetic excuse of a father swigs another bottle of rum and whiskey.

Carlos grew up so upset that it was him who acted like his mother's slave, that he was treated more of a creature rather than her son.

Jay grew up to be distressed as his father spat at him and told him all the things he had regret doing, and it hurts because it included him but never the shit he had done to Jasmine and Aladdin.

Evie was horrified of her mother, the moments she could only remember growing up was whenever she tried to please the living fuck of her mother when she was so much more.

Mal hated it. She couldn't bear another damned second inside that wretched island. She had to witness every little thing her mother had done just to keep her status up and running.

It hurts Mal so much that she wishes she never told her mother that she wasn't invited to Evie's sixth birthday. That she wished she hadn't pointed at her and let all the fucking jealousy consume her.

"So, are you finally going to ask her today?" Jay asked as he sat down with Mal and Carlos, the fairy shook her head, "I don't know."

Carlos furrowed his eyebrows, his gaze shifting from the thief and their leader, "Who are we talking about here?" It was a simple question, Jay chuckled, "You know, the girl Mal likes."

Mal scoffed, shoving Jay towards the worn out couch as she rolled her eyes, "Apparently, I don't have a fucking clue to who this girl is." The freckled boy replied, Mal stares at him, incredulously.

"Really, Carlos? You know, it's _her_." Mal answered, her voice light and melodic, as if she was daydreaming, Carlos bunched his eyebrows together, "You have to be a little more specific, Mal."

And then the recording cuts off. Mal stood inside Jay and Carlos' dorm room, her eyes glowing a little green as she watches the news report. Headline was; _MAL, IN LOVE?_

"This is bullshit." Were the first words that left her mouth as she read it, Carlos felt uneasy. "How the fuck can anyone record this?" She asked, eyes trained on Carlos the whole time, "I don't know, Mal! Maybe we were bugged back there."

"We weren't. I'd know if we were, Jay." Carlos huffed, his eyes never leaving the television screen. "Look, make sure none of this goes out between the three of us right now. Let the others know this on their own." 

The two nodded before taking their backpacks, escaping Mal's wrath.   
  
  
  
  
  


The fairy walked alone, her hands secured inside her pockets when she heard them. The hoarde of paparazzi wanting to get her view on the leak. She huffed, not wanting to deal with them right now.

The last two times she dealt with them was months ago, back when her and Ben had just broken their engagement off. Speculations of cheating, illnesses and her going back evil were the like. Truth was, they fell out of love. No, they weren't in love. Far from it.

The other reason was when she came out as bisexual to the public. Everyone in her friend group was dragged into that mess that they had to file a restraining order against them.

They harassed them day and night to the point where she never left her room and despite all the risk, it was Evie who took care of her.

 _Evie_.

Her princess, Evie.

She huffs, stopping and facing the reporters with their cameras flashing as they shoved each other just to get near the fairy. Mal flinched, getting hit in the process by a branch which was behind her.

"I'm answering one question and I'm going!" She announces, the reporters growing weary of who gets to ask the question everyone who knew wanted to ask. Eventually, one of the younger ones, stepped forward, presented his microphone and stood proudly.

"With the leaked recordings from last night, would there be an answer to who your mystery girl is? Is it someone we know?" He asked, eyeing Mal like a predator, wanting for her to break. She didn't.

"Curfew, gotta go!" Were the last thing she said before running off and jumping on the fence.   
  
  


"Where the hell is Mal? I thought she was with the two of you?" Evie asked as Jay and Carlos scratched their necks, "She stayed back a little longer. Don't worry, she's on her way." Carlos answered, his voice nearly a squeak with him under Evie's glare.

"Hey, guys?" Gil called out, eyes glued to the screen of his phone, "What's this?" He asked, and just when Evie was about to peek, a mop of purple had already tackled her to the ground. "Paparazzi! Go, go go!"

No questions were asked.

They followed Mal and no one knew what storm they're about to go through. They all followed as Mal held Evie's hand.

She smiled. While Happily Ever Afters and Fairytales don't happen in the Isle, it sure does in Auradon.


	2. II

It was a regular day for Jane, you know? She woke up inside her dorm room, freshened up, went to the dining hall to eat her usual; eggs, bacon and milk.

And like, okay, gossiping is a disease that she's familiar with and sometimes she has that disease but what the fuck is up with the mean girls look alikes?

"What are you looking at?" Carlos asked as they ate their breakfast, she hummed, her eyes never leaving the girls who were staring at her and whispering, she shook her head, "N-Nothing."

Carlos turned his head, finally seeing what Jane was looking at. She pouted as Carlos frowned, "Why?"

"They're talking about me, I think?" She mumbled, Carlos shook his head, "Let them be."

And let them be she did. She stood up, let Carlos walk her to class and she was there. Silent, waiting for Doug so she could copy his damned Math notes.

"Hey, Jane." That's odd. Other people in this class rarely talks to her. "Hi?"

The girl, who she wasn't familiar with, smiled sweetly at her before leaning over. "Have you heard the rumors about Mal?"

The fairy frowned, what rumors?

"No. What about it?" She asked simply, just the perfect words the girl was looking for. "There's some word about who Mal was talking about here."

_"You know, the girl Mal likes."_

She could hear as Mal scoffs while Jay lets out a pained laugh, probably shoved by the fairy, Carlos hummed, " _Apparently, I don't have a fucking clue to who this girl is."_

 _"Really, Carlos? You know, it's_ ** _her_** _."_ Mal answered, her voice light and melodic, as if she was daydreaming. It took a little while before another voice was heard, _"You have to be a little more specific, Mal."_

And then the recording cuts off. She frowns at the girl, "What? I know nothing about that." Was her answer right before any questions were out of the girl's mouth. "I was just wondering if it was you she was talking about."

With a frazzled expression, Jane blinked and had her mouth open, "What?"  
  
  
  
  
  


"Alright, what the actual hell are you morons doing?" Lonnie asked, her body finally turning towards her teammates who just entered the amphitheater. "Actua-"

"Shut up, talk to me when practice is over." She snarls, not really wanting to deal with the shit her idiots want to say.

R.O.A.R had been hectic recently. With their finals rolling in and the championship just a few weeks away, Lonnie was more than ready to kick anyone's ass if they even dared, no, if they even thought that they can stray away from her plans.

"It's totally her! She looks at Lonnie like she hung the stars!" But you know what? Like earlier, gossiping is a disease and curiosity is a bitch so Lonnie, being the regular teenage girl that she is, stopped her team and turned towards the other students occupying the amphitheater.

"Why did I just hear my name?" She asked, jogging over towards the group of girls who were giggling and whispering about her, she tilts her head, puts an arm on her hip and stares at them, waiting for an answer.

"Haven't you heard? Mal's gushing over someone - a girl - and I totally think that it's you!" Blunt, okay. But what?

"I'm sorry, what?" She chuckles, confusion washing over her face as Harry and Gil take notice. "Oh come on, Lonnie! Mal _so_ has a crush on you!"

"No she doesn't." Was Lonnie's quick reply because like okay, Mal's kinda cute and she's kinda hot but she doesn't steal shit from friends. God, especially not from Evie.

"No she doesn't." Gil added, backing Lonnie up for the same goddamned forsaken reason, the girl raises an eyebrow at Harry who only smirked, "Hm, sorry, love. Got to agree with Lon on this one."  
  
  
  
  
  


Audrey hated opening her phone in the morning. More so when she's right in the middle of a class for crying out loud.

She grumbles to herself, knowing that there is no way in hell that she could ever ignore the incessant beeping of her phone. Whatever the heck this is, it better be worth it for her to risk.

**from: random dude named chad**

**_so.... someone sent this to me and i don't think that mal needs to know. or maybe she already does. let's just talk abt it later._ **

**_random dude named chad sent a link._ **

Audrey blinked, looking around her classmates who were this close (her index finger and thumb are touch btw) to killing themselves if they spent another second hearing Mr. Delay go on and on about Chemistry.

She watched the video silently, more confusion fueling her as the bell rung and people began pointing towards her. "What the fuck is happening?" She muttered, fishing for her phone inside her purse as she received another text containing the link.

"Hi, Audrey!" A group of sophomores greeted. Great.

She silently groans as she turns around, plastering a smile on her face as the teens giggle in front of her. She winced, was she _this_ annoying when she was a sophomore?

"We would just like to say that you and Mal would be perfect for each other!" And look, Audrey was aware that she had done _many_ questionable things in her lifetime that would result to any punishment. But what the hell did she do to deserve this?

"What?" She sputters, her heart was pounding and her head was spinning in confusion. This was stupid, right?

"The girl that Mal was talking about in the video, that was totally you!" One of the girls squealed. Audrey cringed, her nose scrunched together in disgust.

"And one time, I saw the two of you walking home from your date." The other girl added obnoxiously. Audrey squints at her as she leans closer. "Huh?"

"You two went home together after the party! The one after we won the Tourney Championships last year." Okay, more information was supplied but her braincells decreased.

"Honey, I'm so sorry but I have no Idea what you're talking about. Our friends were drunk and we were the only ones sober." She explained before turning around and storming off. God, kids these days.   
  


Maybe Ben was a little stalker-ish and a little creepy when he decided to wait for Uma's class to finish. Yeah, he's pretty sure he looks creepy. I mean, Freshmen were literally eyeing him up and down and acting like he killed their dog or something.

He checked his watch, a few more minutes before the bell rings. A few more minutes before he tells Uma the situation.

And yes, gossiping is still a disease that not even the King of Auradon can escape. He knew about the leak and he knew exactly who he was suspicious of. And his suspicion is walking right towards him.

"What's up, Ben?" Uma asked, eyes glued to her phone as she replied to Harry furiously about the chicken nuggets.

"Hey, can we talk? Outside?" He asked in his most sincere voice and cutest puppy eyes. The sea witch scoffs, finally pocketing her phone as she stares at the king.

"Your puppy eyes never worked on me." She mutters in disbelief as she began to walk away. The King gasps and follows her, finally catching up to her, he gains her attention. "I'll buy you some chicken nuggets."

And okay, not that only gossiping is a disease but also the situation of a high school senior going broke. Yes, broke-ness is a disease.

"What do you want to talk about anyway?" She asked, finally digging in on some nuggets as they sat on the school's courtyard. Ben gulps.

_Do I try to be subtle? What do I do?_

"I know about her, Uma." He mutters, quickly, he bit on his palm as he waits for Uma's reaction.

The pirate furrowed her eyebrows. For some reason, this is scaring her. How the fuck can he know? She hasn't told anyone!

"Uh huh, who are we talking about again?" She trails off, side-eyeing Ben as he racks his brain for some common nouns to use.

"Her. You know, the girl." He replies nervously, palms sweating as Uma kept her demeanor calm and collected. Ben was just freaking out.

"What about her?" She asked as calmly as possible. He finally sighs and relaxes. "I just know that she's special to you and luckily, you're special to her."

Uma's ears perked up and she can physically feel her cheeks reddening. Ben watched, his speculations growing stronger and stronger with each passing minute.

"You really think so? I mean, I tried everything to get her to notice me. I didn't know that she did." She chuckled, feeling at ease as Ben listened to her.

"She's really special to me. I don't know if I can survive the world without her. She's my sunshine and I know that I'd do anything to protect her. Even if I hated her at first."

"Really?" Ben hummed, nodding his head repeatedly with a smile as Uma grinned back. "Yeah."

And then they were a little silent, for a while. The occasional chewing of Uma's nuggets heard here and there.

"I'm just glad that I could talk to you about Audrey like this."

"A-ha! You're totally the girl Mal was talking about!"

The two stared at each other, frozen as they finished their sentences. Ben paled a little. "You like Audrey?" He squeaks, Uma just blinked. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"You weren't talking about Mal?" Ben asked, disappointment evident in his voice. Uma nodded frantically, "Why the hell would I even talk about that clown? I thought we were talking about Audrey!"  
  
  
  
  
  
  


While all of this chaos ensues around Auradon Prep, Evie was out and about, just finished with Belle's fitting for her and Adam's twentieth anniversary.

"God, I wish I could have a relationship that long." She mumbles to herself as she takes all of her materials. Ranging from needles to threads.

She sighs, groaning in frustration when she can already hear the echoes and camera shutters of the media, just outside the palace gates.

Not that it was for her. She just hated them in general. They're like rats, follows you around and ensues havoc.

She sat inside the limo, courtesy of Belle herself and relaxed. Ignoring the first ten beeps of her phone. Finally annoyed by the eleventh, she picks it up.

She opens it and smiles at the wallpaper behind all of the things she's been sent.

It was Mal wearing a Cerberus costume for Halloween and falling asleep while in it. She really didn't know why she made it as her screensaver but, the sight of Mal keeps her happy and warm. 

**from: auds (to joy)**   
**_hi hi hi hi. please kick mal's ass when you get back!_ **

**_auds (to joy) sent a link._ **

"Oh no. Mal, what have you done this time." She whispers before opening the link.

She winces for a bit, lowering her phone's volume as the crackling of the static got louder and louder.

 _"So, are you finally going to ask her today?"_ She can hear Jay ask as another sound, probably sitting was heard. The crackling got louder before Mal's familiar voice echoed _, "I don't know."_

 _"Who are we talking about here?"_ It was a simple question asked by a confused Carlos. Evie can already see his gaze shifting from their two friends. Jay chuckled, _"You know, the girl Mal likes."_

Mal scoffed, the sound of Jay hitting the ground with a thud and his laugh following was heard. Evie smiles _, "Apparently, I don't have a fucking clue to who this girl is."_ The freckled boy replied.

 _"Really, Carlos? You know, it's_ ** _her_** _."_ Mal answered, her voice light and melodic, as if she was daydreaming, Carlos huffs, his voice barely heard _. "You have to be a little more specific, Mal_."

That's weird. Evie doesn't remember any of this happening. Damn, she didn't even realize that she was back at the campus.

She thanked the driver before getting off, not even noticing the swarm of paparazzis waiting for her just in front of the gates.

Hell began for her when it was too late for her to avoid any eye contact.

"Evie! Hi! Just one question. Do you have any idea who the girl Mal was talking about?" One female reporter asked as she walked briskly towards the school doors. Evie can only shake her head 'No.'

"Rumors have come out that it was you. Is this true?" And okay, no Evie doesn't have a dIsEAsE like her friends. But that doesn't mean she couldn't stop when _that_ question was asked.

"Why would _I_ be Mal's mystery girl?" She asked in a light hearted tone as she opened the doors, "The two of you are seemingly in love. You just have no idea."  
  
  
  
  
  


"Come on, it's not _that_ bad." Chad grins at a completely frowning Mal. She rolls her eyes at him as he approaches her with a box of cookies. They were currently on the Tourney Field, the bleachers to be exact and Mal was just about done with everyone as they ask her who this 'mystery girl' is.

"Why can't people just shut up?" She asks silently, Doug shrugged. "Because gossiping is a-"

"Disease, we know. We have it." Carlos, Mal, Chad and Jay answered altogether.

Honestly, Mal didn't really care about the rumors, it was fun to hear. What she did care about was the harassment they have to go through again with the paparazzi. Plus, she's worried that Evie would kill her for letting herself be recorded.

"Mal!" And speak of the devil. Mal swiftly turns her gaze towards the source of the voice, regretting it quickly as she sees every girl she's friends with. God, she's dead.


	3. III

"What the hell are these rumors?" Audrey exclaimed, her ears already turning red and Mal was pretty sure that actual steam was coming out of her nose. It wasn't a pretty sight.

And look, of course Mal tried to run from it but she was stuck as Evie glared at her. The one person she was afraid of, _glaring_ at her.

"Mal Bertha Moors, I swear to your dad that if you don't fix this, I _will_ make you sleep outside." An empty threat from Evie but still, Mal was petrified so all she could do was nod.

It didn't take long before everyone was calmed down and apologizing to Mal. Everyone except Evie. It didn't take long for her to pull Mal aside, the smaller girl petrified as the designer huffs and shoves her to the nearest leaf pile.

"Mal, I don't understand how you trusted me with the secret to who your dad was and this you can't tell me!" She whispers exasperatedly, Mal flinches away from her, cradling her arm as she plops down.

"Because, E. That recording was way back before we were even friends. I was talking about you." It was a brief explanation, Evie tilts her head, she didn't know what she had to feel, "You like me?"

And then that's when Mal realizes what she's just said. She frantically shakes her head 'No' as Evie sighs out in relief. "I liked you to be on my gang. That was literally a night away from me asking you to join us."

Evie nods her head in understandment, finally relaxing as she sat beside Mal. Both staring at the vast ocean of stars that are starting to appear on the night sky. "So, I assume that I can trust you on this?" It was above a whisper and Evie can't help but etch a grin on her face. "Yeah, sure."

To say that Mal was relieved was an understatement. She thought she was fine but no, Mal's fucked.

Why you ask? The tormenting of the paparazzi didn't stop. Everyone, including the boys were being followed everywhere they went.

That's why Mal decided to go to the one person she knew she can get some decent advice from.

The gates of hell were just like what the books tell you. It was dark, dreary and cold. The moment your feet touches the ground you're wallowed in a pit of flames. It was odd, the coldness and emptiness colliding with the scalding heat of fire.

That's just one of the many reason why she won't let her friends come visit her while she was down here. She had a kingdom here. A kingdom filled with dead souls and fire. She was the princess and heir of the Underworld but she didn't want it.

Mal looks around for the familiar faceless figure of her father's ferryman, Charon. She sighs in relief when the flames came off, approaching the river, she stepped on the boat, flashing her ember as the faceless figure let out an inhumane sound.

Hades sat on his throne, getting tired of the blabbering his brothers are creating. That's when a mop of purple hair appeared, simply sitting on Cerberus as the dog squeaked, wagging its tail from side to side, happy to see the princess.

Mal got down, bowing down to her uncles as Hades greeted her with a hug. He clears his throat before whispering down to his daughter, "I'd give you one of Cerby's puppies if you make your uncles go away."

It was barely audible but Mal heard it, and just one look at her father's clearly tired and annoyed demeanor, she complied. She took one look at Charon and soon enough, Zeus and Poseidon were out.

"Holy Lucifer, I thought they weren't going to leave me alone." He sighs exasperatedly as Mal sat down on one of the more comfortable seats inside the Underworld. Hades knew his daughter. She wouldn't come here without any reason. Besides, it's not like he haven't seen the news reports yet.

"You got a problem, tell me before I kick you out too." Were the first words that left his mouth, Mal leaned back on her chair, "I assume you've seen the news." His daughter says uneasily, Hades was about to deny but Mal sent him a glare. "Dad, I can literally hear your thoughts."

Hades frowned, "Fine. Who are you talking about there anyways?" He asked, sitting upright, Mal bit her lip. "I wasn't talking about her like I _like_ _like_ her. I was just about to recruit Evie back on the Isle."

Her father scoffed and snorted, raising a perfect eyebrow at her, "You expect me to believe that bullshit?" He asked to himself before sighing, "Look, dad, I just need to fix our situation with the paparazzi."

Hades shook his head, "You're stubborn. You wouldn't listen to me even if I told you a plan." He replies with a soft chuckle, Mal shakes her head, "I promise, this time I would."

"Then link yourself to a girl. Or at least get one of them to agree to you." Was his quick reply, Mal stares at him, confusion visible on her features. Hades purses his lips into a thin line while tapping his chin. "While you're at it, make the girl agree first then you contact the media. With the information you have and the power over them since you're literally friends with the king, blackmail them. Tell them that they can't release it to the public unless they want to get fired."

She blinked. The new information spiraling her into a set of ideas. "Thanks, dad!"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


The next time Mal was seen, she was around the Enchanted Lake, her eyes were locked on the ground, already thinking about every pros and cons with every girl that was involved.

Jane was like a little sister to her and Mal doesn't really like the idea of stealing Carlos' boyfriend. Everything was already taken from him at such a young age and she doesn't want to add up to that.

Lonnie wasn't really her type. No matter how she comes back to the idea of Lonnie being her 'mystery girl' it doesn't add up.

Audrey would just be more hectic. Besides, they already tried to kill each other, it wouldn't make more sense if it was her and Mal. The two of them wouldn't add up and she was sure that they would not even endure each other for a single day.

Uma's clearly not good for her either. She's on the same level of craziness as Audrey and enduring each other would be their biggest challenge.

Mal pauses, sitting down, under the small platform with surrounding pillars. She watches the moonlight being reflected on the lake's waters.

She can always go to Evie, you know? She had tons of pros. She and Mal are close enough for it to not be weird, past rumors of them dating were already out, they were comfortable with each other. There was just one con-

"Would ye mind if I sit here with ya, lass?" Mal turned her head, facing the man as she nodded as Harry sat beside her, his feet dangling on the edge of the platform they were sitting on. "Where were ye? Evie was worried sick that ye weren't at dinner."

Mal chuckles, head resting on the pirate's shoulder as she speaks, "I was with my dad. I kinda asked him what to do with this paparazzi situation." She explains, Harry hums and nods, "So, is it any of our girls?"

Mal winces, "Why? Do you think she is?" She asked, removing her head from his shoulder as they locked eyes, "Clearly. Ye aren't great at lyin', love." He chuckles before sighing, "So, who is it?"

"It's-" Mal closes her eyes, her heart was pounding and so did her head. "It's no one. It's nothing, I promise. How about you? Why are you here?" She asked, removing the topic off of her and onto the pirate. She barely missed the look of pain painted on Harry's face.

"I was thinkin' then I stopped because I saw ye." He replies, his voice thick as he avoids Mal's gaze. "Harry, if you were to date any of the girls, who would you go for?"

The Scottish lad laughs at that, shaking his head as he bites his lip, "Aye, let's see. I can't date Jane, I wouldn't want to steal her away from Carlos now. They're in a happy place." Mal watches him as he fidgets with his finger, his eyes never meeting hers.

"Lonnie is me team cap'n, besides, Chad is really desperate for her to like him. Poor lad." He smiles, closing his eyes as he inhales the sweet air of Auradon. "And I can't take Audrey or Uma. They're both close to me and I don't want to date any of them."

"So, Evie?" Mal asked suggestively, Harry began to burst out laughing. "No, I can't do that." He grins, smiling knowingly at Mal who can only chukle at him. "I'm gay, Mal."

The two were silent for a while, Harry was dreading this. He hated the silence. It always reminded him of how his father would lock him out of their home as he wandered the eerie alleyways of the Isle.

Mal was just in a state of shock, staring at Harry as the boy chuckled, "Would ye promise me not to tell anyone?" He asked, removing his hand out of his pockets as he stood. Mal nodded, "Well, yeah. I-I, damn. You're gay?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Harry just grinned to himself, "Yes. And if I were to date anyone, it'd be a guy." He winked before turning around and walking off, whistling a happy tune as Mal stayed behind. Letting herself laugh as she realized how much they had become.

She leans back on one of the pillars surrounding her, closing her eyes and remembering the time she was talking to Jay and Carlos on the Isle.  
  
  


 _It was one of those regular days in the Isle. Mal was just on the docks, scrummaging through every little thing she could use to make their hideout better. Plus, she's making one more room, hopefully, their new roommate says yes_.

_She was just spray painting around their new base when Jay enters, his own sack of goods combined with Mal's. He smirks, smacking Mal's head as he passed by her._

_"So, are you finally going to ask her today?" Jay asked as he sat down beside Carlos, the fairy shook her head, finally sitting beside her two friends, she shrugged, "I don't know."_

_Carlos furrowed his eyebrows, his gaze shifting from the thief and their leader, "Who are we talking about here?" It was a simple question, Jay chuckled, "You know, the girl Mal likes."_

_Mal scoffed, shoving Jay out of the worn out couch they were thankful to have as she rolled her eyes, "Apparently, I don't have a fucking clue to who this girl is." The freckled boy replied bluntly, Mal stares at the young De Vil, incredulously._

_"Really, Carlos? You know, it's her." Mal answered, her voice light and melodic, as if she was daydreaming, Carlos bunched his eyebrows together, "You have to be a little more specific, Mal." He tells her, the girl nodded while Jay laughed, "Come on, your little friend Evie. Mal nearly took a curse for that girl last week, remember?" Carlos can only hum and laugh along as Mal's face reddened._

_The next day was hectic for Mal. She waited outside Dragon Hall, not really bothering to enter any class. Evie was always the intelligent type. Too bad her mother looked way past that._

_The first time Evie got a rose was when she stepped outside the worn out classroom. Mal was there, scratching the back of her neck as she shyly handed the withered flower that once held a deep red hue._

_"What the hell is this?" Evie asks, her mouth agape as Mal groans silently, "It's a peace offering or something." She mumbles, in an attempt to be non chalant, she shrugs cooly, but still shying away from the witch's gaze as she took the rose. Evie raised her perfectly plucked eyebrow at her._

_"Mal Moors doesn't do peace offerings." She replies, Mal finally sighs, defeated as she held Evie's hand, pulling her aside from all of the students and glaring at each and every one of them as they stepped outside._

_Evie asked no questions, just followed Mal through every jump, every duck and every shove. Eventually, they had to stop because hello? Of course Uma has to stop them. "Well, well. If it isn't Princess Blueberry." Uma taunted, enough to get Mal growling. Honestly? Evie wasn't aware if she had to be offended or what._

_"Fuck off, Uma." Were the three words Mal spat right before shoving her, on the dumpster and running, just pulling Evie with her as they laughed. Mal smiled. Only Evie was capable of creating such a beautiful sound in this wretched place._

_"Welcome to our hideout, E." It took Mal some time to finish the sentence and it also too some time for Evie to comprehend this. She smiles at Mal, squeezing her hand. "So, how about we go inside before Uma kills us?"_

Mal opened her eyes, smiling as she reminisced about the stuff her and Evie had been through. That's when she got her answer. She'll go to Evie despite the one con she had. What was that you ask?

The only con Evie has on her is that it's impossible not to fall in love with her.


	4. IV

It was nearing midnight when Evie was about to fall asleep while watching another chick flick on Royalflix, the streaming service in Auradon.

That was until Mal bursts inside their room, nearly spewing out fire from her mouth as she caught her breath. Evie scrunched her nose in disgust. Like, okay, she should feel bad about Mal but dragon farts are not pleasant. Far from it, actually.

"You better not be asleep when I'm out of the shower. You and I are going to have a talk." The fairy panted before trudging to their shared shower. Evie furrows her eyebrows, about to pull Mal back until the door slammed. She frowns, it's rare that Mal would rather talk than sleep. And when she actually wants to, she asks Evie properly and sweetly.

So out of her curiosity and obedience, she waited, her yawns coming and going as her eyes nearly fluttered shut. Eventually, just when she was an inch away from giving up and falling asleep, Mal finished and plopped herself down just beside her. The princess furrowed her eyebrows, throwing a blanket over the fairy who smiled thankfully at her.

"Evie, you know that I trust you, right?" She asked, her voice small yet certain, she turns her head and stares at Evie, asking for her reassurance. Evie nodded, "Of all people, it's me you ask? Mal, you can kill a person and you can trust me to keep it from everyone." She joked and Mal's face turned stoic. Evie froze.

"Oh my god, did you actually kill someone? Oh no, was it Harry? I haven't seen him after dinner." She asked, standing abruptly as Mal hummed, turning her gaze from the movie to Evie, finally laughing as she saw her expression.

"No, you weirdo. I wanted to ask you something. A favor of some sort, you know? And why would I kill him?"

Evie watches the girl in front of her and she can't help but smile as Mal looks up at her, every time the same expression. Every time it makes her giddy, "What are you smiling about, weirdo?" She added, finally standing up to face Evie. And look, no one really expected Mal to grow taller when she reached her maximum abilities, but she did. So, hence the new version of their height difference.

"You're calling me a weirdo? For all I know you might have a hidden body somewhere." Evie retorts and Mal could only roll her eyes as she plops back down on the couch. "I went to my dad earlier. And I kinda asked him with some advice regarding you know, our situation with the paparazzi."

Evie tilts her head, waiting for Mal's continuation. "And he told me that I can make them stop if I have information to tell them. I can blackmail them, use the 'Ben is king and he's my friend' card." She continues, Evie hums, nodding her head.

"And?" She asks, Mal hesitates for a bit, eyes squinting as her heart pounds. Obviously, she didn't know if she wanted to ask Evie for this favor. The little voice in her head told her not to but like, if her friends had gossiping as a fucking disease, she had the dumbass disease.

"Evie, I need you to be my fake girlfriend." Alright, it was quick and she wasn't even sure that Evie heard it, okay? _Okay. Mal, stop panicking. Oh no, she's looking right back at you._

Evie just stared at her for a few minutes before smacking her with a pillow. "Mal, you're insane." She chuckled. This _had_ to be a joke, right?

"E, please? I promise, I won't let you go through shit." Mal pouts, using her puppy eyes to beg Evie. The witch just bites her lip and attempts to glare at her but fails. Miserably.

"M, I don't think I can do this. Who knows how long this might take us?" She asked, flinching away from Mal's grasp as the girl pouts at her. "Just until we move to Auradon University and we don't have to live in dorm rooms anymore. Please?"

It was a long shot in the dark Mal had to take but she knew that she wasn't taking 'No' for an answer.

Evie just stares at her. Like, okay, there are _tons_ of advantages to this but there were also disadvantages.

For example, if she begins to date Mal, she can get free and authorized access to the team's locker room where the WiFi is so much faster than the cheerleaders' because the Tourney Team are animals and only have one device each connected to the router.

Another advantage is that she can finally have these horny creatures called boys to get off of her because she'll be 'dating' the scariest VK in the school.

Mal had tons of advantages, really. There was only a slight disadvantage. And that was Evie's attachment issues.

She decides against it but you know what? Fuck it.

"Okay. I'd be your girlfriend." She answers, her heavy heart finally felt light and the tension between them finally deflated. Mal grinned at her, smirking knowingly as she leaned a little closer. "But?"

Again, this is just one of the advantages for the both of them. They knew each other too well. Mal raises her eyebrow, waiting for Evie to reply who in turn giggles.

"But, we need to have a set of rules if we want this," She continues, waving her fingers back and forth from herself to Mal, "To work out. There are no feelings here just a pure platonic friendship with me helping you."

She finally sticks a hand out towards the fairy, an eyebrow raised as her head tilted, wondering if Mal would take the offer.

She did. "It's a deal, Grimhilde."   
  
  
  
  
  
  


"So, each of us get the same amount of rules the other has, just to be fair." Evie lays out, her pen and paper neatly placed down her desk. Mal scrunched her nose in disgust as Evie begins to write in calligraphy.

"Must you decorate the title of our rules?" She asked teasingly as Evie glares at her. "One more word out from you and this deal's off, Bertha."

"Geez, alright _Morell_." She smirks, knowing how much Evie hates that name. She elbows Mal's crotch, sending the fairy down on the ground as she gasps out for air.

"That was fucking uncalled for!" Mal groans, clutching her bruised ego and crotch as Evie smirks down on her. "Rule number one, you can't annoy me." The girl smiles playfully as she jots it down, Mal huffs.

"Fine, my first rule is that we can't physically hurt each other while this deal is on."

Evie giggles, complying and writing down Mal's first rule. The fairy sits beside her, propping her head on her fist as she stares at the princess.

"Rule number two, I get to call you with any pet name I can come up with." And before Mal could even stop her, it was already written down, the fairy grumbles to herself as she glares at her best friend. "Just as long as I get to choose our 'backstories' then okay."

Evie nods, leaning back on her chair and turning to Mal. "So, you goofball _,_ how did we fall in love?" Evie smiles, her voice sweet and rich, using the same tone she did when she was told to flirt. Mal gulped, actually scared for her life when Evie laughed, and by laugh, she meant her snort laugh.

Mal eventually broke as she too ended up laughing, wiping away tears from their eyes, she cleared her throat and stared at Evie. And okay, maybe it was only in movies they watched when they were bored, or in books they were asked to read but Mal swore that suddenly, just like magic, she felt her heart speak.

"Remember that time I gave you a rose, just so you would come with me to our hideout?" She asks, a smile tugging on her lips a bit as Evie nodded, her own smile painting her ruby red lips.

"What if I asked you out on a date back then? Promised you all the banquets, picnics, parties and flowers you deserved once we got out of that hell hole."

"And you thought that I've forgotten everything but really, just a few weeks earlier before the leak happened, I did," And then she paused. Stood up, rummaged through their closet and took out their projector.

"Mal, what the hell are you doing?" Maybe Mal was out of her mind, maybe she shouldn't be doing this but it's Evie. She deserves every good thing in this planet.

Evie just watches her in confusion as the projector flashes a photo of the Enchanted Lake. The fairy takes her hand, sets her down on her messy bed and presents her with the best food they could possibly eat.

"This. I did this. And I told you what I always felt for you and well, of course to make this work you'd have feelings for me too. So, is this okay?"

While all of this was going on, tears escaped Evie's eyes. She nods, "Something's wrong with you! I fucking hate you, you knucklehead." She cries before shoving Mal who only grins at her.

"Third rule, at least let _me_ take _you_ out on one date." She sobs while Mal just laughs at her, "Come on, princess, you don't hav- okay then, you have to go to every after party after every game." Mal chuckles nervously as Evie glares at her. Evie nods, jotting it down immediately.

And eventually, they wrote out a few more stuff like Evie has to watch Grown Ups with Mal or Mal has to watch Legally Blonde with Evie. One more rule is that Evie only allows cuddling if Mal would be the big spoon, Mal just agrees to it. The two of them come to a mutual agreement about not telling anyone about it. That's when Evie tells her final rule.

"You can't kiss me, _mi amor,_ not until it's necessary." Evie finally writes down before drawing two lines and signing. Mal nods before taking the paper herself and signing as well. "So, gorgeous, I guess you're my girlfriend now."

It takes a few seconds before it sinks in with Evie. She just sits there, dumbstruck as she nods her head. "Yes, I am."

And just like that, Mal was her girlfriend. "I'll be making a few calls, E. Don't wait up for me."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


It was a regular day for Auradon Prep. Breakfast was sure to be skipped by Mal, surely, she won't be seen until noon because it's a Saturday and her friends were already expecting that to happen as they sat on their usual table.

Their chattering was interrupted when Mal enters with Evie just beside her, both smiling as they headed to the queue for bacon. Jay had to squint to check if it was actually Mal he was seeing.

They were in shock. Because first of all, Mal doesn't like breakfast and second, she sure as hell won't be smiling at this time of the day!

"Good Morning, guys!" She greeted with a stupid grin attached to her face as she and Evie sits down on their table. Uma had to suppress a gasp when she greeted them. Mal furrows her eyebrows, "Why are you guys looking at me like that?"

"Mal, sweetie, isn't it too early for you?" Audrey asks her directly, she shrugged, "I actually woke up before Evie did and I was hungry." She answered, everyone turned to Evie for answers who simply smiled and nodded.

 _Something's wrong_ , Carlos thought, his gaze shifting towards the others. Ben raises his eyebrows and widens his eyes, as if telling him _, 'You think so?'_

They all thought that it would be a one time thing but the same happened the next day. And so did the next, and the next, and the next, and the next day.

And okay, they were cutting her some slack, thinking that maybe she's finally a grown ass woman because she handled the press and she finally eats breakfast instead of chugging down black coffee at her first period, which was Homeroom but it becomes a little weird when _this_ shit happens.

It was another regular school day (with the exception of training). Mal ate breakfast, she was in a good mood but she was missing something. Training meant make sure you look like you're part of the team day. Mal didn't look like it when she was missing her jacket.

"Did you finally clean your jacket?" Carlos attempted at a joke as he and Mal run towards the field, she shakes her head no.

Of course, Carlos was confused. Why won't she wear it if she didn't clean it? It was like in good shape last week, maybe there was a tear?

Or maybe Evie has it. Well, at least it wasn't broken, right?

Training went as planned, except for the fact that it wasn't just Mal who stayed behind.

"You know, I'm literally starting to think that our friends are stupid." Evie jokes as Mal laughs with her, the fairy stops packing up as she begins to stare at Evie. "Keep the jacket. It suits you."


	5. V

At first no one really knew what the hell was happening. Like, okay, maybe Mal was just changing or she had a near death situation that's why she's nice but of course, with each move she and Evie has done for the last couple of weeks, their friends grew skeptical.

It all started when it was their turn to host the sleepover. "We've been living in this dorm room for three years and now's the time you come up with this idea?" Mal asks Evie exasperatedly as they tower over their beds. Now pushed together to make one large and comfortable resting place.

"Well, it isn't my fault that you climb on my bed every day. I got used to it." Evie replied, sass lacing her voice. Before Mal could even retort, their door opened and the sound of their eleven friends toppling over each other can be heard from outside.

"Last time I was here this place was cramped. What the fuck happened?" Chad groaned, stretching his body since it was him who everybody had landed on. Evie shrugged and pointed to the bed. "Mal and I decided to push our beds together."

"Weird." Lonnie mutters to herself as Mal explains why. It was something along the lines of it being convenient for the both of them and giving the dorm room much more space.

Weird. Very fucking weird. Extremely weird. Especially when the two backed out from 'Spin the Bottle.'

"Oh come on! You're total wussies." Ben laughs as he begins to spin the bottle. The two girls roll their eyes at him, with Evie taking the bottle, they sat down. "We'll join if it's Truth or Dare."

Okay. Maybe it was stupid because they could be asked with stuff but it's way better than kissing your friends and trying to act all nice about it when you're clearly disgusted.

"Fine. But if you don't take the truth or the dare, you take a shot." Uma challenges. They didn't back down from it.

So spin the bottle they go. Honestly, it pointed to Carlos seven times before it could even point to neither Evie or Mal. They didn't know if it's a coincidence but they sure as hell would make the most of it. So when the bottle lands on Evie as Audrey spins the bottle, they made sure to get Mal in on it too.

"Truth or Dare, Eves." Audrey giggled wickedly as Evie stares at her confidently. She smirks. "Dare."

It took some time for them to come up with a worthy question and surprisingly, at their first pick of the paper, it was great.

"Drag the hottest person in the room out in the hallways and start making out for five minutes while we watch through the peephole _or_ tell them something by drawing the letters on their body using your tongue."

And okay, Evie had done flirty things just because she was evil and that's what she was taught but there is no way in hell that she'd do any of those.

She looks at Mal who meets her gaze, the fairy's eyes shift from her towards her finger, as if hinting something. Honestly, she didn't understand so she stands up, pulls Mal out of the room and slams the door.

"What are you doing?! I was pointing at the shot!" Mal exclaims in a whisper, her voice exasperated as Evie widens her eyes. "I didn't understand you! I'd rather to this than lick you!" She retorts in the same volume Mal had spoken. She groans silently.

When Mal heard their friends rushing towards the door, she apologized silently to Evie before wrapping the Latina's legs on her waist and slamming her on the door.

Evie squeaks as she held on to Mal's shoulder to steady herself. The girl chuckled. "You're closing up the peephole. They have no idea if we're kissing so just mess my hair and I don't know, rock the door or something." Mal instructs her, Evie was failing miserably at trying not to laugh while they were at it.

From inside, they all jumped when someone was slammed on the door with a squeak, clearly from Evie was heard.

Uma rushed to peek through the peephole but all she could see was Evie's blue hair and that was it.

"Do you think they're really doing it?" Jane asked as they all waited for the seven minutes to pass. Their question was answered when another thud bangs against the door.

Mal grins as Evie messes her hair like it's been a lifelong dream of hers. "We have a minute left and I think it's time you wrinkle my clothes." Evie suggests shyly. Mal chuckles, "It would be rude not to."

They didn't even realize that it was done. And maybe they're both thankful that it was slow how they opened the door because Mal wouldn't have been able to nuzzle her face on Evie's neck and make it seem like they were doing something.

Then that wasn't spoken about again. That was their rule. There was one time where Audrey and Ben had to get handsy and the next day they all acted like nothing happened.

That was the rule with them. Forget it and don't get attached to the past. They might have the worst cases of the dumbass disease but they weren't that stupid.

It was the first game of the Tourney Playoffs. Mal thought that if they were great enough the first game, they could keep it up until they reach the finals.

The halls of the school were a proper ghost town when everyone else was watching the game. Mal felt nervous. This was the first time a girl had been selected to be the captain and if they fuck up, it's her fault.

Jay tries to guide her with some tactics they used a few years ago, innovating it a few more times with Mal's new ideas. They were unstoppable in the regular season. Hopefully, they still are.

He watches as the crowd goes wild at every hit they do, at every perfect shot to get the ball in the goal, at every dodge and every deflection of the Dragon Fire.

Then Mal's signature move would come to play and the crowd goes wilder. Jay gives her a look beneath his helmet as Mal makes a small nod. They didn't need words, she just knew that he's dodging the next Dragon Fire and it was for hers to catch.

So Mal caught it as Jay backflips in order to avoid it. The crowd yells in delight as she held on to it, throwing it perfectly to land just in front of Evie. Jay thought that it was a mere coincidence that it landed there so eventually, he shrugs it off.

There wasn't a single shot they missed or a single block they hesitated to do. That's why the Auradon Knights were again victors of the first playoff game.

"We won!" Ben jumped gleefully as the team made their small huddle. That's odd. There were only six of them. "Guys? Aren't we missing someone?" He asks, his voice was laced with laughter but it didn't mean that Mal getting lost wouldn't occur to him.

"Yeah, where's our Captain?" Lonnie asked, removing her head from their huddle as she searched for her in the crowd. Jay, being much taller than the girl, found her. Smiling widely as she twirls Evie around.

The two were laughing together, not bothering to look around and celebrate with the rest of their friends. It didn't matter, actually. It was just, strange.

But Jay lets it off the hook as they all meet up together at the auditorium where the party was being held. "Our first playoff led by a woman and we won. To Mal!" Carlos cheered, raising his glass as Mal grinned at them, Evie sticking to her side.

There wasn't anything peculiar to them at first, it was normal. Getting wasted, dancing, thr roaring of their music heard from miles away. Everything, it was okay.

Gil was understandably beat by the time it reached one in the morning so he sat down and just watched his friends dance. None of this could be done in the Isle. Uma can't horse around and waste good food in the Isle, Harry can't dance and jump around as he smiles.

Jay can't play the music and be himself, Carlos can't eat everything his heart desired while Mal and Evie, they can't share their food and cuddle on the corner, right?

He squints, his gaze a little blurry because of the bad lighting this place has in order to make way for the neon cups and stage. That's weird but friends cuddle in parties, right?  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


The next day was spent curing hangovers and shoving the ones who don't have them to the ground. Who started it? Unsurprisingly, it was Uma.

They were all sat on the grass under the dim Auradon Sky. A storm was set to come and the Villain Kids were excited to see some storm here. Admit it or not, they kinda missed it. The Auradon Kids also joined in on them, casually sitting down with them except for one half of the Core Four. Mal and Evie were nowhere to be seen.

"Don't you guys think it's weird?" Jay asks out of the blue as he props himself up, leaning his back on the trunk of the nearest tree while Dizzy and Celia approached. "What's weird, Jay?"

Dizzy asked as she sat down with them, head leaning on Celia's shoulder while Jane made space for them. Jay shrugged. "Mal and Evie seem to be missing a lot of times since yesterday. It's weird."

Chad's ears perk up as he frantically nods along, completely agreeing to everything Jay had said. "Right! I saw Mal earlier this morning, she was carrying a life size teddy bear and bringing it in their room. I didn't say anything about it, it was just weird." He explained, the rest who were drowning out the conversations previously, now listening in.

"Come on, maybe it was for her. Give her the benefit of the doubt." Ben chuckles as he opens his phone, his eyes not straying away from it until Mal and Evie came to view.

"Oh golly, here they are." Harry sighs as he sits up, greeting them with a wave and a smile as they sat down. "Where the fuck did you even get a bear that big?" Evie asked Mal, everyone's attention turned to them now, listening intently.

"What bear?" Audrey asks curiously, her gaze shifting to the two and Chad, "I got Evie a bear. It was from Andy's toy store." Mal explained, they all furrowed their eyebrows. "Why would you get Evie a bear?"

Mal tilts her head, "Why not? I remembered Evie with the bear so I got it for her."

There were no more questions asked about the bear for the rest of the day. Except for Ben.

It's been months with the barrier down, eventually, some of the Villians and their children are invited to the palace to have some dinner. Hades was invited and Mal was expected to come.

"Is it okay if we put another seat here, Your Majesty?" Mal asks Belle quietly as they bump into each other, Ben furrowed his eyebrows, "Why, is your mother coming?"

Mal shakes her head, laughing as she sighs, "No, no. I have one more guest if that's okay with you." She grins, Belle just smiles at her, "Of course dear. Is it a date? Who's the girl?" She gushed and Mal can't help but blush at the former Queen's giddiness.

"That girl would be her." She whispered, pointing towards the door where her father and Evie were, laughing at a joke Hades made. Belle gasped as she tugged on Mal's sleeve.

"Was she your mystery girl? I'm so sorry, everyone was talking about it!" She asked in a hushed whisper. Ben tried to listen in on it but he was pulled by Lumiere, asking him about the current situation. 

Mal chuckles nervously as two of the most important people in her life approached. Her dad was quick to run after Adam, about to ask him about the current Tourney standings, leaving the women alone. 

"So, Belle was just asking if you were my mystery girl, _chérie."_ Mal smiled at the blue haired princess as Belle's face softened, Evie blushed a crimson red, "I-I, yes. Mal and I started dating weeks before the audio was released." She explained, Ben was still curious, but eventually, Mal and Evie sat the farthest from him as her mother talked with them.

"Aye, it's dinner, Ben, why are ye callin'?" Hary asked gruffly as he picked up the phone. The dinner was finished and almost everyone just stayed to chatter. The king sighed, "Something is really weird. Evie was with Mal today." 

"And so? Let 'em be, Ben. We don't know what's happenin' to 'em." Harry replied, Ben nodded, apologizing for his sudden call before hanging up. Nothing really made sense to any one of them right now. He sighs, turning his head as he noticed the open doors leading to the balcony. 

Then he saw it, clear as day despite the moonlight shining above the two figures, melded as one underneath the stars that littered the Auradon sky. It took him a while to realize it, he smiled to himself, shaking his head, leaving them be as the certain words were etched into his mind. Mal and Evie are in love.

He didn't dare to try telling anyone, he waited as they realized. And it happened on its own. 

Carlos was seated inside his Homeroom class. He was waiting for Evie, waiting for her blue hair to grace the boring class that is Biology. But instead, he sees a flash of purple entering the classroom. 

"Mal? Why are you here?" He asked, sitting up straight as their leader put a finger up her lips, "Where does Evie sit?" She asked quietly, Carlos furrows his eyebrows before pointing to the seat in front of him. She flashed him a smile of gratitude before putting an envelope, a rose and chocolates down. "You didn't see me here."

And as quick as she entered, she left. He didn't try to peek at what was in the envelope and instead waited for Evie to come. She came in, unaware of Mal being in here just a while ago. "What's this?" She asked before putting her stuff down and taking the note. 

She read over it and can't help but crack a small smile. Keeping it secured inside her binder as she smells the rose and keeps it tucked between the pages of her book while she offers some chocolates to Carlos. 

It was strange that Mal was doing this, maybe to others but never to him. Evie was always Mal's mystery girl. Whether she says it or not, it would always be her. 

Lonnie also thought that it was weird. "Pst, Evie." She whispers, nudging the witch's thigh with her pen as everyone took the pop-quiz in their Woodsmen and Pirates class. Evie turns her head slightly as Lonnie made hand signs. 

Evie squinted, eventually, Lonnie was asking what the answer to number four was. Evie silently tells her. Lonnie smiles as she jots it down. No more than ten minutes after that and the bell rings. She leans back on her chair as everyone piled up to get out. Including Evie. 

Then out from the windows, she can see Mal, waiting among the crowd and smiling brightly at Evie once she saw her. 

She was surprised to say the least, but it wasn't a surprise either. The two had always been like that.

Another surprising thing occured to Audrey as she enters the library. She rarely goes here, most especially at her free period. She browses through the books, in search for the book that has every answer to her report.

She reached for every shelf the library, searching the lowest of it to the highest. Then she sees a mop of purple hair enter. The sound of her combat boots not really helping the 'Keep Quiet' rule of the library.

Audrey watches her carefully. That's just off. Mal never goes to the library. Not unless she was told to by Fairy Godmother. So to say that Audrey was surprised wasn't an understatement.

Mal just sits there, tapping her fingers on the wooden table with a frown which was quickly erased when Dizzy and Evie walked in. Audrey gasps lightly, almost cooing at the softness that was Mal as she rushed to Evie, handing her a book, causing the blue haired girl to grin and blush. 

_Huh, maybe they aren't that oblivious,_ Audrey thought.

It was just in fourth period where everyone was sharing a class. History of Auradon had a love-hate relationship with the teens and today, hate is superior.

Harry was about to doze off, much like the others when he notices Evie taking a note from her pocket, scribbling something quick before leaning over and passing it to Mal. Weird, that was weird.

He squeezes his eyes shut, wanting to drown out everything Fairy Godmother was teaching when Mal lets out a laugh. She was grinning like a complete idiot while Evie was blushing.

And okay, he knew there was something fishy between the two but right now, the stench was right in front of him. And no matter how nosy he was, he didn't bother to ask tehm about it. They were happy, and that's enough of a reason why he shouldn't interfere. 

Even Doug didn't want to interfere despite the condition Mal was in. It was after all the classes, Evie had her fashion class which was an extracurricular, he had band while the others had R.O.A.R. Mal had art but here she was, inside the music room and banging her head repeatedly on the piano, letting out broken notes. 

It was a familiar tune to him, a song that was surprising to be played by Mal. But nonetheless, he let it be, taking his trumpet as Mal grumbles and groans repeatedly. He didn't want to interrupt her now, wouldn't he?

It was near curfew when he planned to return his trumpet, surprised that Mal wasn't alone this time. Evie was there with her, listening and watching her intently as she played the same notes earlier. Only this time, it wasn't flawed and broken but it was like Mal had etched it into her memory and played it perfectly. 

He didn't want to bother them, especially not when the curfew bell had rang. If they stay late, it's up to Jane on what to do with them.

And okay, maybe hanging out in your friend's dorm room way past curfew isn't good. But look, Audrey wanted a roundup and no one can decline those, ever. 

"So is everyone here?" She asks as Audrey counts them. Lonnie furrowed her eyebrows, "We're missing Mal and Evie." 

Audrey wanted to laugh at her for saying that, she sits down and everyone grows quiet. "They're not going to be here because they're the one we'll be talking about, doofus." 

And okay, maybe it was bad that they were talking about them behind their backs but can you fucking blame them when the past few days were filled to the brim with weird ass Mal and Evie things?

"There is something definitely going on." Jay laughs as everyone recounts their encounters with them, well, everyone except for Jane and Uma who shared an encounter. 

"Yeah, well, the icing on the cake is with what we saw." Uma chuckled nervously as she stood up, "Remember the night where they had to make out? We all left pretty early and they were still asleep. When Jane and I returned, they were cuddling on the bed. I thought it was normal because they do it all the time until we realized that they were naked."

Carlos nearly died because of choking on his own spit.

"So, what? Are they dating?" Ben asks, his question was left unanswered when a clap of lightning struck.


	6. VI

"So, I had this idea." Evie begins as she enters their dorm room. Mal hums, her eyes never leaving her sketchbook as she drew another sketch of her perfect Auradon. Her perfect home.

"Why don't we push our beds together? We're hosting the slumber party, right?" Evie suggested as she plops down right above Mal.

The purple haired fairy groans before pushing Evie off gently, "And why the hell would we do that?" She asks, finally standing up to prevent any more lazy Evie.

"Because we're dating and it saves space." The girl replies nonchalantly as Mal squints at her, searching for other more reasonable answers. She got none.

"Would you please just do it? It's not like we don't cuddle." She adds and Mal thought about it for a moment before pushing her bed to Evie's side.

The witch decided to help but Mal was a dumbass so she let herself handle it. Evie watches as Mal successfully joins them together. "We've been living in this dorm room for three years and now's the time you come up with this idea?" Mal huffs as Evie rolls her eyes. "Well, it isn't my fault that you climb on my bed every day. I got used to it."

Mal was about to reply with something snarky when their door opened. Their friends piling up on each other instead of stopping like they usually did because there was a recliner near the door.

The two watched as Chad groaned while everyone got off of him one by one. "Last time I was here, this place was cramped. What the fuck happened?" He asked as he began stretching out his muscles.

"Mal and I decided to push our beds together." Evie explains, their friends looked lost and Mal couldn't help but hear Lonnie saying how weird it was.

"It's because we wanted more space for the dorm room. Chad's right, we were way too cramped and besides, it's more convenient. We share a blanket, we'd share a bedsheet and now, Evie doesn't have to eat on my bed because she doesn't want hers to get dirty."

The others nodded, agreeing with her as they began setting up their sleeping bags and in Carlos' case, pillow. "Isn't your back going to hurt, Los?" Evie asked worriedly as Carlos grinned up at her.

"He's been waiting for you to host the sleepover. It's been his dream to sleep on your carpet." Jay explains as he looks at their youngest. Mal scrunched her nose in disgust, thinking of all the food crumbs she probably have left in there.

"So, Auds, what's our schedule?" Evie asks the princess as she sat down on the recliner. Audrey smirks, "Well, as usual, we'd do Spin the Bottle-"

"No, nuh uh. I'm not joining in on that." Mal shudders jokingly just to make Evie laugh. Evie nods her head, agreeing to the fairy as they sat that one out.

"Oh come on! You're total wussies." Ben laughs as he begins to spin the bottle. Mal tried not to whack him with the bottle while Evie takes it and pulls Mal to sit across from her. "We'll join if it's Truth or Dare."

And alright, maybe it was a tad bit stupid because they could be asked with stuff that is way too personal but the two had their moment where they realize that it's way better than kissing your friends and trying to act all nice about it when you're clearly disgusted.

Uma scoffs at them as she takes out the large bottle of tequila out of her bag. "Fine, but if you don't take the truth or the dare, you'd have to down a shot."

It took a long time before it eventually landed on Mal or Evie. The two were anxious as the bottle passed them. And maybe it was a sheer coincidence that it had to point at Carlos seven times before it points to Evie but they sure as hell hope that they get a good one out of her.

Audrey smirks as she eyes the Isle Princess, challenging her with a stare that Evie wasn't afraid to look back at. She smirks, leaning back a little as she chooses, "Dare."

Chad nearly made a fist bump with the air as Audrey began picking a paper from the pile of dares they had written. And thank gods that they actually had one that was good enough.

Evie felt a little uneasy, honestly. She watches as Mal tries to peek over Ben's shoulder who was peeking over Jane who was peeking over Audrey but to no avail, she didn't catch anything.

"Drag the hottest person in the room out in the hallways and start making out for five minutes while we watch through the peephole or tell them something by drawing the letters on their body using your tongue."

And okay, Evie has done many flirty things that their friends were aware of but even that caught her off guard because one, who the hell is she going to drag outside and two, licking is disgusting.

She turns to Mal who meets her gaze, and Mal tried to signal her into taking the shot. She thought Evie got it until her ass was dragged outside.

"What are you doing?! I was pointing at the shot!" She exclaims in a whisper, exasperatedly as she widens her eyes, Evie mutters an 'Oh my God' before flicking Mal's head. "I didn't understand you, you idiot! And if it was out of the two choices, I'd rather do this than lick you." She retorts in the same volume Mal had spoken. Mal groans silently as she realized how complex their situation is.

What's worse was that she could hear the footsteps of their friends going near the door to peek. That's when she formulated a plan.

"Evie, I'm so sorry in advance." She whispers before wrapping her best friend's legs around her waist and slamming her on the door. Evie squeaked, loud enough and muffled immediately to pretend that it was cut off by a kiss.

She held on to Mal as the girl beams at her. "You're closing up the peephole. They have no idea if we're kissing so just mess my hair and I don't know, rock the door or something."

It was an odd five minutes but Mal and Evie were completely enjoying it by rocking on the door as Evie slams her hand on it a couple times.

Mal hid her laugh as Evie began messing up her hair, a minute later and she was messing up Evie's clothes.

It was funny, how they got to play their friends like that and how stunned they were when the two acted like nothing happened. Because nothing did. And only they knew that. 

Their friends left at four in the morning because they had to hide when Fairy Godmother knocked on their door, "So, who cranked the temperature?" She asks groggily at Evie who was already removing her shirt. Mal's eyes widened, "I'm wearing a tube, Mal. You can look." 

Mal was about to complain when she finally decides that fuck it, it's hot. But not too hot that she won't go under the blankets after she took her shirt off. There's no way in hell that a monster can pull her leg.

"You'll do fine, M." Evie comforts the vibrating girl before her. It was the first day of the playoffs and Mal was already shitting herself. If something goes wrong, it's her fault. She can't have that. 

"I don't know, E. It's the first time someone even thought of having a girl as their Captain and turns out it's me." She huffs, holding on to her helmet as they went to the crowd. The Cheer team was on the sidelines while the team did a huddle. 

Evie smiled at her best friend, "Look, they didn't choose you randomly. They did it for a reason." She urges before pushing Mal towards the team. 

They all stared at her as she began instructing them what to do. "Alright, are there any special requests you dweebs want to do?" She asks like always does, no one answered so, with one glance at the sidelines, she sighs.

"Well, I do. Make sure one of you makes an opening for me to catch the Dragon Fire." Her team could only nod as the starting whistle went off.

Evie watches as the two teams line up, watching their every move as the game starts. The crowd roars with joy every time the Knights score or take possession of the ball. Heck, even Evie was interested in the game. 

She watches as Mal and Jay nod to each other before the latter does a backflip in order to avoid the incoming Dragon Fire. Mal catches it. And with one wink towards her, throws it at her feet. 

Then before she even knew it, they won. She searches for the team huddle when a wave of purple came crashing to her. "E, I did it!" Mal grinned widely as Mal picks her up, twirling her around. "Mal!"

They both laugh, pulling each other in a hug as they celebrated the win. That's when Evie gasps, already dragging Mal's ass towards the dorms and pushing her towards the shower as she searched her closet for clothes. 

Mal just complies as she took a shower, threw on some sweatpants and got out. Evie was beautiful. She always was and Mal knew she didn't say it enough. "You look gorgeous, E."

The witch meets her gaze and waves her hand dismissively as they walked hand in hand, on their way to the auditorium where all of their friends were. They all greeted them and Mal was immediately pulled by the guys, carrying her over their shoulder as they entered. 

Most of the school body was there and all were cheering for them. Evie just watches proudly as they set Mal down. They all took cups, filled it with punch as Carlos watches Mal. "Our first playoff led by a woman and we won. To Mal!" He cheers proudly as they all clink their cups. 

Mal and Evie stood side by side, both intensely proud to what they have become. By midnight, most of the guests left but here they still were. Evie sat down on the corner, already tired from all the dancing and singing they've done. 

Mal was at the food table when she saw Evie, she chuckles to herself, taking a slice of some pie and blueberries with a cup of punch. She approaches her, sitting down beside the witch. "Figured you might be hungry." She smiles as she offers the plate, "I'm just tired but thanks." 

Mal nods, placing the plate down as she lets Evie cuddle into her. She checks her watch and sighs, "How about we go back to our dorm?" She asks, poking the girl with her fingers. Evie just glares at her before being carried to their room. 

And okay, Mal likes sleeping but she would always jog in the morning especially right after any party. She leaves Evie behind as she takes her bluetooth earphones because Mal might be such a dumbass clutz who loses shit but these are her babies and not even Evie can touch it. 

She runs outside, starting her morning jog with the same route. She runs from Auradon Prep to the city, goes window shopping for a while, buy herself some coffee and then head back. 

When she arrives at the city, she passes by Andy's Toy Store where a huge navy blue teddy bear was displayed. And okay, she knows that it's a bad idea if she buys one for Evie because one, it's fucking huge and two, it's expensive but look, she has to somehow thank her for agreeing with this deal. 

So she enters the store where the old toy owner was. "Hi, good morning." He greets as she scans through the heaping shelves of toys. God, so this is where Uma bought all those airsoft guns she used to torment Mal for a week?

"Hey. I was just wondering if the huge bear on the window is for sale." She asks, pointing to the bear as Andy smiled, "It is. We're actually about to donate it, though. No one ever takes it because they say it's too big and unusual." 

Mal furrows her eyebrows, "That's what makes it great. It's unique."

Andy smiles at her and nods. "You can have it." He grins at her and Mal felt two things at that moment. The first one is relief because that bear can scrap her off of her whole allowance and the second one is gratitude. "Can- can I have some help maybe transporting it or something?" 

Next thing she knew, she was hauling a big ass teddy bear, on her way to the dorm rooms. People stared at her weirdly and she saw Chad but she didn't even think of asking him for help. 

Eventually, she hauled the huge teddy bear while Evie was probably doing her own workout routine. She pants, leaning on to the big teddy bear. 

Evie was in the gym Ben had donated, the one which the Tourney team, R.O.A.R team and Cheer squad can use. She was just about to start another round of running when Mal sent her a text.

**from: dragon farts  
** _**heyheyheyheyhEYHEYHEYHEY, i need u here asap. but pls shower before u come here :)** _

She furrows her eyebrows yet does what she was told nonetheless. And okay, she was silently praying when she was on her way to their dorm room because it's either Mal had done something so cool and something so stupid. There is no in between.

Mal hides behind the bear as the jingle of keys meet her ears. "Mal, I swear t- oh my gosh." She gushes as she rushes towards the bear. "Hi, nice to meet you." Mal begins talking in a funny voice as she raises the arm of the bear to wave at Evie. 

She stands up, smiling at her blue haired princess as she pouts at how cute the bear is. "Mal, why did you buy this bear?" She asks as Mal closes her eyes, "It's a not so little thank you gift for agreeing to my plan." She answers, Mal didn't realize that the original tag was still there. 

"Mal, I'm giving you five seconds to run away from me." Evie warns her and just as the countdown starts, she's out of the door. 

She could hear Evie following her and eventually, she caught up with her and Mal had to explain everything while they approached their friends. "Where the fuck did you even get a bear that big?" Evie still asks, incredulous as Mal beams, "What bear?"

The two turn to Audrey and Mal lifted both of her eyebrows at the sudden curiosity of the princess. "I got Evie a bear. It was from Andy's Toy Store." She answered simply as Harry squints at her, "Why would ye get Evie a bear?"

"Why not? I remembered Evie with the bear so I got it for her." She shrugs, meeting Ben's eyes who miserably failed in hiding it. "Ben, you want to tell me something." 

The King scratches his neck as the fairy stared at him, "Yeah, I just want to remind you about the dinner tonight. My mom's been asking me repeatedly about it." 

She then turns her head towards Evie, smiling to herself, "We'll be there."

"I thought the dinner was a- oh, hey!" Hades greets Evie as she and Mal stand in front of his house in Auradon. The one without flames and souls, you know? He's normal too. 

"I'm literally right here." She huffs as her dad pulled away from Evie, "Oh you're here too." He jokes before pulling Mal in a hug as well. 

"So, are we going?" He asked, Mal and Evie nods, following him into his vehicle. Hades drove them to the castle, "Dad? Would it be okay if you drop me off the entrance first? I haven't exactly told Belle that Evie was coming with us." 

Hades meets her gaze on the rear-view mirror, "Why did she come with us? No offense, but why?" 

"I really wanted to experience this but you know, my mother resents me so this is the closest I could ever get." She answers honestly and Mal can feel her heart clench as Evie tried to smile, she held her hand, squeezing it before getting off. 

"You know that you're part of the family, right?" He asks Evie as they went to the parking space, Evie tilts her head, "What do you mean?" 

"It means that no matter what happens, if you need someone to talk to, if you need someone to guide you, I'm here for you like how you were always there for my daughter. You bring out the best in her and I don't want her to ever lose someone like you." 

Evie's eyes glistened with tears as she hugged Hades from the backseat, "Now get off of me. We have a dinner to get to." He chuckles as he gets out of the car and opens Evie's door. They walked, arm in arm as Hades began telling her dad jokes. 

"I have a question, how do you make holy water?" He asked as the guards opened the door for them, Evie furrows her eyebrows as they walked. Hades smirks, "You boil the hell out of it." 

And okay, maybe the joke was stupid but that was why it was funny. It was stupid. Hades brings Evie to Mal as he leaves and searches for Adam. "So, Belle was just asking if you were my mystery girl, chérie."

Evie blushes as she hears the nickname, being caught off guard because let's be honest. Their previous nicknames for each other was literally dumbass, idiot, asshat, goofball and by far, the best were _mi amor_ and gorgeous.

"I-I, yes, Mal and I actually started dating weeks before we even knew that Mal had an audio to be leaked." She explains, that's when Lumiere appears before them. "The dinner is about to begin, Your Majesty." 

And before the two could even protest, they were seated beside Belle with Celia in front of them and her father beside her. 

"Would you mind if I asked how it happened?" Belle asked as they dug into dinner. Evie steps on Mal's foot from under the table and honestly, Mal thought that she deserved an award for acting like nothing hurt when she got stabbed on the foot by Evie's platform heels.

"Well, right before I even got Evie to join Jay, Carlos and I, I actually had this big crush on her." Mal admits as Evie hides her laugh. God, they've practiced this so much that it was second nature to them at this point.

"And when I asked her to be a part of our team, I actually promised her a date when we get out of the Isle. I promised her that when we get out, I'll take her to every ball, every party and give her everything a princess deserves."

Mal smiles at Evie, smirking a little as she noticed the faint blush on the Latina's cheeks. "And she thought that I forgot about it but honestly, I never forgot about it. No offense to Ben but there were times I wanted to break up with him before we even got engaged."

Belle laughs at that as she watches the two teenagers in awe, "And a few weeks ago, I took her to the Enchanted Lake, gave her a picnic and I told her how I felt." Mal finishes. Belle could only smile at them. By the time Belle was done asking them questions, the two found themselves on the balcony, staring at the ships.

"I spy with my little eye, something orange." Evie whispers, squinting her eyes and immediately regretting that she said orange instead of blue. Mal grins to herself, blowing the princess a raspberry when she emits fire from her fingertips. 

And okay, they swore they heard someone talking but they didn't bother to see who it was. Suddenly. Mal flew out of her chair, swatting her face. Evie scrunches her nose in disgust as Mal removes the dead fly from her hair. "You're disgusting."

The moment Mal woke up earlier than Evie, she knew she was fucked. Why? Because she's literally an hour earlier than her best friend and classes don't even start until another two more hours. 

So she sets out a journey to the one place where people wouldn't judge her because they're just in the same state as her; the dining hall. 

She sees the roses in the garden, her instincts getting the best of her when she plucks one, then she's on her trail to the dining hall again. 

She basically ate at least a stack of pancakes and stole a pack of chocolates before deciding that she was actually going to class. 

Or she could also drop off some stuff for Evie. She wasn't in her Homeroom yet so she takes her stationary set out of her messenger bag, jotting down a quick note before placing it inside an envelope. 

Carlos was there and he was a huge help. Then she leaves. 

Evie comes into class, her hair was still wet and her clothes were wrinkled. She ran all the way from the dorms and she thought she was late. "What's this?" She asked, pointing to the stuff on her desk before sitting down. 

**To: the bitch that hogs the blankets at night  
**   
**_i love you, bitch.  
i ain't never gonna stop loving you.   
bitch.  
  
P.S: I stole the rose and the chocolates so pls hide it before ppl start noticing. _ **

**From: the bitch that needs the blankets at night**

She rolls her eyes at the note, slipping it into her binder and putting the rose in between her book. She then looks at the chocolate, "Do you want some?" She asked, offering some of it to Carlos who gladly took a piece.

Homeroom went by like a breeze and soon enough she was off to her Woodsmen and Pirates class. And one thing she hated about it is the pop quizzes. Like the one they were taking now. 

Don't even get Evie started on the confusing questions. Lonnie asked her for number four and she kinda feels bad because she doesn't even know if she gave her the right answer. 

That's why she immediately rushed outside the classroom when Mal stood there, hands on her messenger bag as she took the books from Evie's arm. "Wouldn't want to wrinkle your dress now." She chuckles nervously as they began to walk. 

"Mal, what the fuck are you doing?" She asks as Mal clutches on to the books tighter. "You know, walking you to class." She smiles, Evie wasn't buying any of it. "M."

"Okay, fine, I was about to pass by when I saw you guys taking the test and I was wondering if you have any of the answers." Mal grins and Evie can't help but roll her eyes, taking her books from the fairy, she hits her with it before entering her Chemistry class.

Mal sighs, defeated, going to the direction of the library as she decides that she would be spending her free period there. 

She sits on one of the tables near the door, tapping her fingers on the table, about to doze off when she sees Evie and Dizzy enter. "Mal, where the fuck is my book?" Evie asks as Mal grins at her, handing her the book. "Try not to take the thickest book just so you could hit me with it next time, would you?"

Evie was about to kill herself because she was bored as hell. She groans silently as Fairy Godmother goes on and on about the story of how Prince Charming and Shang fought a battle before the barrier was up. 

She takes a piece paper from her pocket and quickly scribbled a note before passing it discreetly to Mal. 

**_im about to kms if i hear the word clash again._ **

The fairy laughs as she turns to Evie. A little magic won't hurt, right? Because instead of having to endure another thirty minutes, the bell rang. 

The bell rang loud enough for Harry to fall off his chair while Evie rushed outside to get to her fashion class. 

Mal stayed behind, though, only getting out when no one was there to follow her. She had art as her extracurricular but ditching it once won't bite her in the ass soon, right?

That's why she headed to the music room where the instruments were. Mal was failing her music class and the only way she could pass to get a scholarship was if she could compose a song. And honestly, Mal was about to kill herself. 

She bangs her head on the notes repeatedly whenever she gets a note wrong. "So, do you think banging your head would help your situation?" Evie asks with a laugh as Mal stares at her before giving her the finger. 

"Why don't you play it for me?" She asked, the girl and Mal complies, eventually pulling it off when the curfew bell rang. "We're going to get in trouble."

"Please, E. Since when did I ever get us caught?" 


	7. VII

"Ben I swear to god if this is not worth our time I will ki- kiss you and praise you because you are a wonderful human being." Evie smiles innocently as Ben dragged her to his dorm room at three in the morning. Yeah, Fairy Godmother was there and she can't imagine herself having detention again because she threatened Ben. 

The King smirks to himself, laughing silently as Evie sticks to his side, her hands were cold and her gaze was situated on the ground under Fairy Godmother's stare. 

"Evie, since you are in charge of the Family Day today, I'm afraid to say that we can't push through with it. Most of the Kingdoms were flooded with the exception of Agrabah and not everyone can pull through."

Evie's face fell, she had been really looking forward to this. Where villains and heroes come together because of love. Because they had a family they were willing to be good for. 

"But, I have a proposition." Ben swoops in, smiling as he puts both of his hands on Evie's shoulder, "Remember the time I promised you that one day, when we return to the Isle, we'll be creating memories?" He asked, smiling a little as Evie begins to nod. 

_"Am I allowed to come in, Ben?" Evie asks as she opened the doors of Ben's office. The King removes his gaze from the mountain of paperworks he had. He smiles at his friend before standing up and pulling her inside._

_"Evie, we did it!" He grins as he twirls her around. It took her a moment before she could even register what he had meant. Then she turns her stare at the Isle where she could see sparkles of magic are beginning to erupt._

_She gasps, nearly crying as she hugs Ben once more. The Isle was finally under reconstruction, kids are finally undergoing therapy and the villains are now choosing good. Some might deserve to be under the barrier but they've received their punishments once they did their share of wrong doings._

_"Next time we go to the Isle, we'll be making memories. And once we do, it's all because of you."_

"Now that the reconstruction is over, Gothel Tower has turned to a camping site where you can do team building and stuff. Since we can't do Family Day, maybe we could offer a camping trip for our year."

Evie nods frantically at the idea, but before she could even start planning, Ben stops her, "It's just in our year, okay? We need chaperones too. I already asked my parents and Fairy Godmother, while they said yes, we're one more short." 

Evie could only smirk as she shook her head, "I'll handle it." 

When Hades steps out of his home to take the newspaper, he was surprised to see Evie standing in front of him, clad in bunny slippers and her pajamas. "Kid, it's like five in the morning." He frowns, ushering her inside. 

"Thanks, Hades. I just have to ask you something." She smiles as the man leads her to the kitchen where he offers her some drinks, she takes an apple juicebox while the man begins to crack some eggs. 

"Yeah?" He asks, cocking his head to the side as Evie lets out a dimpled smile. "Well, you know how Family Day is today?" She asks, he nods his head, flipping the eggs, "Well it's cancelled."

"What?" He asks, turning around with his eyes blinking, the witch felt a little bad. This was his first Family Day with his child and to know that it's cancelled might suck. 

"We have a camping trip, though. And we're short of a chaperone." She replies almost too quickly, making the man in front of her scoff as he places the food in front of her, "And you want me to be a chaperone?" 

Evie nods as Hades eyes her, "What's in it for me?" He asks, Evie just shrugs, "You get to terrorize us?" 

With a hint of a smile, he nods. "You got yourself a deal. And eat those eggs." 

Evie could only comply.

When Mal was awoken to the sound of a blaring trumpet, she was about to murder someone until she realized that it was her father with Evie smirking beside him. She groans, covering her ears with the spare pillow since the blue haired princess wasn't there. 

"M, wake up." Evie whispers, shaking her as Hades began packing for his daughter. "Would she need a knife?" He asks, head peeking out from their closet, Evie furrows her eyebrows, "No."

"Good, because I would." He mumbles to himself before pocketing the small pocket knife. Mal grumbles, sitting up as Evie pulls her by the arms. "Why the fuck are you waking me up at six in the morning?" She yawns, eyes darting to the digital clock that clearly says 6:03 in a red bold color.

Next thing she knew she was pushed inside the shower. She didn't fight back. And that led to having her ass dragged inside a bus too. 

"Can someone please tell me what's happening?" She huffs once Uma slumps down beside her, "You haven't told her?" Ben asks, confused as he looks at Evie, "We won't be here if I did." 

Ben nods warily before leaving, taking one of the seats in front, reserving a space for Evie since she orchestrated everything. Once everyone was settled, she takes the microphone in front of the bus. 

"This is just for the ones who didn't get the memo, specifically, Mal, we're going camping." She chortles, the bus starts way before Mal could even complain. 

The bus ride to the Isle was pretty quick and every VK didn't fail to notice how clean it was. How it changed so much yet not quite. They can always say that Auradon was a tad better but the Isle was home. 

They passed the bargain castle and Mal can feel her heart clench a little, she looks over to Carlos and Evie when they passed Hell Hall, both of them sharing a little laugh as it reminded them of how they even became friends. Mal felt bad, I mean, she did lock Evie inside a closet and left her to die. 

She then turns to Jay when they see the marketplace, "Remember when I beat you up for pickpocketing me?" She asks, her brother turns to him and he laughs, "Yeah. I'm glad you did, we wouldn't have been friends if you didn't."

They also passed by The Lost Revenge and Ben felt his heart twinge, kinda scared, kinda isn't. Then they arrived where they would be staying. 

Mother Gothel's tower was just in front of the previously crocodile infested beach, cabins line up the grassy patch of land and a campfire was placed in the middle. 

"Get situated inside your cabins. Maximum of fifteen in each, don't follow and I'll make you clean Cerberus!" Hades announced once the kids got off, all rushing to their desired cabins while Mal and her friends stayed behind, sighing, they took the cabin nearest to the waters.

"Isn't this where I threw you?" Mal asks Gil and Harry once they peek over the cliff, barricaded by a fence so no one would fall. "Don't ye even mention it."

"Hey, are you okay?" Evie asks Mal as they stepped inside, their friends already claiming their rooms. "You did a great job fighting for this, E. I'm so proud of you." She smiles, referring to the new Isle, where anyone could be who they want without a barrier trapping them. 

"I wouldn't have thought of this if you didn't come back here, M. You're just as big as a part of this as I am." She replies, Mal rolls her eyes, attempting to like fight off the pounding of her heart. "Please, that's Ben to thank for."

The two began laughing, eventually taking a room with the girls where a view of Auradon was seen. "So, there's six of us and there are four beds, what are we doing here." Uma explains once the two enter the room, Jane and Lonnie stare at each other before jumping on a bed each. 

Uma scrunches her face, "Really? I have to sleep with the Prissy Pink Princess?" She huffs, trudging to the bed as Audrey glowers at her, shoving her off of the bed when she sat down. "Hey!"

"We aren't like that, right?" Mal whispers to Evie who only shoves her as well. This might be fun.

When the girls stepped foot outside, they can see the four adults chatting away while the boys were huddled. "Are ye challengin' me?" Harry scoffs at Ben and Jay who both nod, "First to the top gets the top bunk bed." Ben smirks and the girls just squint their eyes at them.

"You idiots have bunk beds?" Lonnie asks exasperated while the boys nod all together before starting on climbing up the tower. Jay gives up halfway and leaves the two boys as he slid down, jogging over to his friends. 

Mal looks far in the distance, her heart jumping when she realized how close this was to the city. She tugs at Evie's sleeves, nudging her head to its direction. "What?" She asks, eyebrows arched. 

"Let's go to the city, check out how much this shit hole changed." 

When they left, they didn't expect their friends to run after them. She holds Evie's hand all the way, especially when they passed the Castle Across the Way. "I can't believe this was where I lived." Evie points out to her friends, Carlos chuckles, freezing a little when he hears the screeching of tires. "Everybody move before you die!" He yells, thankfully, he did, or no one would've survived Cruella driving insanely. 

"Don't you think it's a little dangerous? Us travelling with our parents around?" Gil asks, Mal shakes her head, "They're stripped off of weaponry and magic until they've proven they're good. The spell only wears off if they actually are. There's no cheating it."

While walking, they see the city in the distance. So they ran. Ran until their legs were giving in, ran until they reached their hideout. They thought they lost their friends but they didn't. Uma, Harry and Gil followed them and it felt like the times they were chasing each other down. 

It was a little hard on the Auradonians' part but they came, with the exception of Doug who gladly stayed behind. They were still there, laughing along as they bump some villains on their way. 

"What the hell are we doing here?" Jane asks in between pants as Mal takes a stone, "Love, without you, we wouldn't be here and we wouldn't be afraid of returning. Do the honors?" She asked, giving her the stone. A few eyebrows were raised at the nickname but they all shrug it off when Evie throws the stone, opening the gate. 

They got in one by one, Carlos was the very last so he could lock it up with the pull of levers and stomping of his foot on the ground. "Really? You have a great ass portrait of me and then you paint an X above it?" Uma huffs as she sees the painting of herself. Mal rolls her eyes.

Their friends take a look around and yet, Evie found herself sitting on the windowsill of her room. "Are you alright?" She removes her gaze from the Kingdom of Auradon and meets Jane and Audrey's eyes. 

"Hey, yeah, I'm good." She smiles, hugging her knees as the two watched her. "This place really means a lot to you guys, huh?" Jane asks with a small chuckle as Evie nods. "So much. This was our safe haven. I remember, the first time Mal brought me here, I nearly knocked her off of the railing because I had the view of Auradon." She chuckles, "I always dreamt of being a princess and this was the farthest I got before Ben reinstated me."

The two stare at each other, feeling a little guilty, knowing that they had everything growing up and their friends had nothing. The least they could have was the best they had. The least delicious food was their best meal, their ugliest toy would be a VK's favorite. God, without Evie, none of this would be possible. Every kid would still experience the same thing she had gone through, what Mal, Jay, Carlos, Gil, Harry and Uma had went through.

Mal watches as ships from the Kingdom dock on Goblin Wharf, only this time, they send in passengers, not leftovers. She smiles to herself, remembering how she wished that someday things would change. And it did, all because of the girl that she was unaware she's falling for.

"Oh god, Uma, where are you taking us?" Chad asks warily as they go through alleyways, ones that wasn't repaired and remained dark and cold. Uma smirks as she smells the familiar scent of musky waters. 

"Welcome to the Lost Revenge." She introduces as they stepped aboard. "Crew!" She tries yelling out, she thought they were gone, she thought they had forgotten her but there they were. The other VK's had already returned to the campsite, afraid that they'll run in to their parents at this time of day. 

"Uma?" One of her crew asks, head peeking from the barrels. The Aurdonians watch as they all bow down to Uma, she smirks, "Guys, this is my crew."

"I can't believe they still don't have a single clue." Evie huffs as she plops down on the bed, Mal furrows her eyebrows, "Was it our plan to tell them? I mean, we could just, say it." She shrugs, sitting down beside the princess. 

"Mal, we gave them the most obvious of clues and they still don't know anything. I'm starting to think that they're all stupid." She deadpans, squinting her eyes as she notices the teal and pink hair of Audrey. 

"We need to be more obvious, kiss me." She orders, puckering up as Mal sat there with wide eyes, a little horrified that Evie wants to do _that._

"Are you out of your mind?" She whispers and Evie just tilts her head, pursing her lips together as she glared at Mal. She didn't get a reply because not long after that, Evie had her in a tight grip as ruby red lips crash on to her pink plump ones. 

"I can't believe you fucking threw me off of _my_ boat with _my_ crew watching me." Uma complains as her clothes stick to her, Audrey laughs, "Not much of a Captain now, huh?"

Just about when Uma was about to retort, she stops, her eyes widen and she hurriedly looks to the princess beside her who had the exact same expression as her. "Oh my god." She mutters, fishing for Audrey's phone clumsily before taking a photo. 

Evie smirks and once she couldn't see pink and teal anymore, she pulls away. 

Mal stares at her, both shocked and furious. Dear Lord, that was, woah. 

"You're a bad kisser." Evie laughs at a mortified Mal. "Wha-What did you fucking expect, E? I was caught off guard!" She stammers. She clears her throat and closes her eyes. "Evie, I hope you're happy because despite being a bad kisser, you got to kiss me."

Evie just rolls her eyes before shoving Mal off the bed. 

"Mal, Evie! Kiss!" And look, after that, there was no fucking way Uma can comprehend as she throws Audrey's phone to Ben who caught it. Everyone surrounded it, seeing the photo. "Oh my-"

"Uma, Audrey, Evie wants to talk to you!" Mal yells, the two scramble towards their room to see the two with arms crossed across their chests. "I saw you two."

"H-Huh? When? Now? Of course, Eves, you'll see us." Audrey smiles as she tugs at Uma's soaked shirt. "Guys, calm down. We aren't mad, besides, we should've been more careful about it. Just promise to not tell anyone until we're ready, okay?" 

The two could only squeak a faint 'Yes.'


	8. VIII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: TALKS OF ABUSE, BEATINGS AND NEAR RAPE

When the morning sun rose above the Isle of the Lost and the faint sizzling of the frying pan was heard, almost everyone who had woken up winced. Dreading to look or talk to Mal and Evie.

"Alright, how is everyone in here?" Adam asked as he woke the children up, banging pots and pans together while Carlos watches in delight, clearly, waking up early in the morning has its advantages at some point.

Everyone groans, standing up and heading outside where breakfast was being served by Kronk. Mal just takes the nearest two plates and handing it to Evie before she could even go and fall in line.

Now with the little confirmation, Audrey tried her hardest not to squeal at the sight of her two friends, Mal and Evie, actually dating.

"Do we even have activities planned for this trip?" Mal asks Ben who only shrugs in return, "It's a free roaming thing, it was last minute." He answers, his eyes shifting from her eyes to the subtle nudge of Mal's hand so Evie would entwine them together. He fights back a smile as they ate.

It was peaceful, honestly, some of the students were already at the beach, some were attempting to get inside the tower and some were not even up yet. The Auradon Kids leave their peers, causing them to eat more loosely.

"I think it's time they learn about _us_ , you know." Carlos quips, six pairs of eyes turn to him as forkfuls of food stopped mid-air, Jay shakes his head, "No, Los. We're fine without them knowing."

The white haired boy then turns to Uma and her two loyal crew members, "Aye, I think Carlos here is right. They deserve it." Harry smiles, winking at him encouragingly who returned a wide smile. "Why do they need to know? We're free, we don't need their pity anymore."

"While that's entirely true, I think he is right. Bringing down the barrier was a great decision but we deserve to be heard. God, if they knew the things our parents had done, they wouldn't even think of bringing this down." Uma huffs disbelievingly. "Look, I just want to do this so people won't look at us kids differently. Clearly, some of them think we're still our parents despite having been here for more than a year."

"So what, we just tell them?" Mal asks, eyebrows furrowed as she began to stand up, walking over to the beach where their friends were, "Well, yeah. But we need to do it in private if we don't want our parents to hear it."

"So, the hideout?" Jay asks as he plops his ass on the sand, Evie shakes her head, "Gaston II and Gaston himself hands around there, once they see any one of us, their nosy asses would follows us. No offense, Gil."

"Bargain Castle?" Harry suggests while the other just stares at him incredulously, "No."

"Curl Up and Dye?"

"Unless you want to actually curl up and die, sure."

"Hell Hall?"

"Yeah, sure, let's do it while my mom maniacally shaves off all of our hair."

"Slop Shop?"

"My mom might be there."

"The Lost Revenge?"

"Would your crew promise that they wouldn't snoop?" Carlos asks Uma, smiling, she nodded, "Unless they want their head on a stick, they'd break the rules. They're my crew, they're good."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"Are you planning to kill us?" Lonnie mutters, frightened, as they go lower and lower inside the Lost Revenge. The Villain Kids smirk, "Keep quiet, aye, princess?" Harry winks while Jay scoffs, "Why would they have to? No one can hear them all the way here."

And okay, it was cruel to scare them off like this but please, it's been a while since they had their fun and scaring them off is just as good as a revenge for pushing Uma off of her own boat.

That's when Evie began humming a soft tune, something so soothing yet eerie at the same time. Her humming was cut off when Uma opens a door, slamming it shut when everybody was inside.

"Please don't kill us!" Audrey yells, shielding herself from behind Ben as the Villain Kids begin to cackle. "Geez, it's a joke not a dick, don't take it too hard." Mal laughs before sitting down on one of the wooden crates. The laughter dies down pretty quickly as Carlos clears his throat.

"We were actually meaning to talk to you guys." He begins as he fiddles with his hand, "When we put down the barrier, there were some stuff you weren't aware about." He starts softly, glancing at Mal to continue.

"And we bet that if you had known just exactly what happens underneath the barrier, you wouldn't have lifted it." She sighs, her gaze never meeting any of their friends. Well, everyone except for Evie.

"And we trust you guys enough to know that you won't tell anyone else about this." Evie whispers, as stern as ever while everyone complies. "So before we start, anyone like to share their worst childhood experience?"

No one dared to talk so Carlos began clearing his throat. "Yeah, you don't go first. Let's take it lightly first, alright?" Mal warns him, the boy could only cower in fear under his best friend's gaze so he nods, slumping back on the wall.

"Was it really bad?" Jane asked in a small voice and seven pairs of eyes turned to her, each boring a different expression. "There was very bad and worst, no in between." Gil shrugs, the other humming along their agreements.

"So, how do I even start this." Gil hums as he sits down.

_It was another evening of incessant grumbles from his father as he stared at himself on the broken mirror of their small home. He didn't say anything, just stared. He was fifteen but he was still afraid of saying anything._

_"What are you looking at, you bastard?" Gaston growls as Gil cowers in fear, his eyes moistening with tears that he quickly held back. "What, are you about to cry you pathetic littl shit?" He asked to which Gil didn't reply to. He just stood there, unmoving. Like he always did._

_"N-Nothing, sir." He replies, Gaston glares at him before turning around. He lets out a breath, thinking that he had escaped his father's clutches when the handle of gum rammed on his chest. He gasps, coughing as his back lands on the ground with a thud._

_"You're nothing but a fucking disgrace to me. Why aren't you more like your brother, huh?" He asked, crouching down on his level before slapping him. He thought once more that it was over until he was dragged inside the cramped broom closet._

_He lasted there for days, no scream, no plead or no cry was enough to get his father take a second glance at him. He spent days inside the wretched closet and the only time he was let out, he thought he was free._

_He wasn't._

_"You useless brat can fuck off. Don't come back." He snickers, throwing him amidst the pack of thieves that began to beat him on the alleyway. He shielded his face, his stomach, he tried curling up but they never stopped._

_That was until another figure swoops in, hissing at the thieves as he picks Gil up, careful not to injure him any more. He tried looking up at the stranger but he couldn't see. "Uma, I found your little crew member being beat up in the alleyway." The stranger announces as he stepped aboard the Lost Revenge._

_Uma takes one look at Gil and offers a small smirk towards the stranger, "Thanks, Jay."_

The others stared at him blankly while the VKs acted like it was no big deal. He waves it off, "Please, it's not _that_ bad." He chuckles while the Auradonians try to process the one bit of information.

"Do you want us to continue?" Evie whispers, a little concerned that they might not entirely process everything at once. They all nod before Jay huffs out a deep breath.

_It was one of those days where there was nothing to steal. Jay hated those days._

_He enters their little space, the looming and dark house towering over the other houses as snakes surrounded them. He jumps, climbing on the broken walls as he enters his home silently, not really wanting to deal with his father._

_Eventually, he doesn't see him until dinner rolls around. Jafar stares at him, glaring at his son as he didn't move. He growls, obviously, he hasn't stolen anything today._

_"I see you haven't stolen anything." The man said emotionlessly, eyes darting from the rotten food in front of them and to his son. Jay didn't answer. "Out."_

_Jay flinches at his father's tone, yet followed him nonetheless. Everyone watched as Jay was shoved down on his knees while his father held the snake staff on his free hand._

_Jay waited for the impact. Closing his eyes as the first blow came. Then the second, the third, fourth, fifth. It didn't stop until he was spewing out blood and his stomach was bruised._

_No one dared to interfere as Jafar mercilessly stomps on his son, kicking him brutally that it left the villain himself to be tired and gasping for air._

_Jay was nearly unconscious and gladly, it stopped there. He could hear the murmurs of the people who rushed inside their homes as Jafar's door clicked. It was locked._

_He thought he was going to die, that he could finally leave this world and the monster he calls his father when he spots teal hair. Great, now Uma's here._

_He closes his eyes, expecting his death to be quick and painless when he felt himself being tended to. What's also weird is he's now in an alleyway._

_"You tell no one about this, thief. Tell anyone and you're gone." Were Uma's final words to him before she leaves him, a bottle of half drank water and a packet of uneaten chips by his side._

"What?" Uma asks as everyone turns to her, "That was _you?"_ Carlos asks as he remembers spotting Jay on the alley before aiding him towards their hideout. "Oh god, what the fuck is wrong with your parents?" Chad asks as he grimaced, the VKs could only shrug.

_He flinches at the sound of her footsteps. The sound of heels clicking on the marble floor that was beyond repair. He hides inside his blanket, inside the closet he called his room._

_He jumps in fear when the doors opened and there stood his mother, a cigarette on her finger as she pulls him up. "You no good, what have I told you? You scratched my car!" She bellows, taking the tip of her cigarette and etching it on his nape._

_Carlos hissed but he didn't complain as his mother dragged him, not even caring that he had banged his head on the doors as she throws him on the sidewalk._

_He was frail and weak. It's been a week since he had last eaten and it wasn't even because of his mom, it was because of Evie who threw a portion of her sandwich from her window when Carlos was cleaning the car._

_Cruella watches as her son trembles while she beats him, pinning him to the wall as a series of punches land on his body. He just closes his eyes. This wasn't the worst she could do._

_And she leaves him. The car starts and he thought that he's good, for now at least, when it comes to him at full speed. Knocking him on the ground while the demented woman drives off._

_He didn't even know how he arrived at the beach where Gil was seated beside him. "Don't move. I'll help you up." The boy smiles as he helps Carlos up._

_"Took a pretty bad hit there, huh?" He asked as Carlos nods. "Here's some food, I bet your ass you're hungry. I gotta go, take care, Carlos."_

Jane quickly sobs as she tackles her boyfriend in a hug, he chuckles, smiling fondly at his friends. "I'm fine, guys."

"No you aren't. God, I'm so sorry for what you've been through." Ben apologizes, Harry waves him off, "Ye haven't heard the worst of 'em."

_It wasn't like Harry was used to pain. He was, but he wasn't numb. He wasn't invincible and he realized that when his lungs began giving out while his father holds his head in place, down the water._

_"Ye lil' bastard ain't goin' nowhere." James Hook cackled as he drags his son by his clothes, his skin tearing apart as his hook passes through it._

_He grits his teeth. It was only in the wee hours of the morning and his father was already drunk. Had already beaten the crap out of him and had already locked his daughters away._

_He pushes Harry down to the ground, chuckling drunkenly to himself as he kicks him down, sizing him up before he stomps on him. Harry groans, about to retaliate when a sword slashes through his arm. He shouts in pain as his father cackles._

_He lays there, cradling his arm as his father takes his revolver. Harry closes his eyes, waiting for his death when it didn't come. Mal stood there, where the Captain stood before, a wooden paddle on her hand as she helps Harry up._

_He didn't fail to notice how she took his father's gun, but it didn't matter. "You better shut up, I was never here and I never helped you." She threatens after wrapping Harry's arm._

"Is that why you can't raise your hands properly?" Lonnie asks the lad curiously, he nods, "It hurts a wee here and there."

"God, is there any more blood involved?" Audrey shudders as she holds her head, they all turn to Evie who straightens up.

_Grimhilde wasn't necessarily evil to her daughter. To be honest, out of all the seven VK's, she had the best childhood._

_But that's where it all ended. Childhood. The moment she turned thirteen, everything came crashing down. God, the moment she hit puberty, that's when hell broke loose._

_Evie was seated inside her room, trying to ignore the rumbling of her stomach when her mother steps in, sporting a wicked smile as she ushers downstairs, where Anthony Tremaine stood, a disgusting smile etched on his face as the fairest of them all faced him._

_"Evie, dear, this is Anthony. Why don't the two of you get to know each other?" Grimhilde smirks to himself and Evie just tensed as her mother whispers something to Anthony._

_They got out, they were silent, or at least, the princess was silent as Anthony babbled on and on about how great he is. She didn't even notice that he led them in an alley (yes, crimes happen in alleyways in the isle)._

_Next thing she knew, Evie was pinned to the wall as Anthony's hit breath ghosted over her body, she didn't fight back. She knew she would regret it when she notices the dagger on his hip._

_He tried, removing her skirt when suddenly, he jolts back and the cracking of bones were heard. Evie gasps in shock as Mal stood there, taking her hand while Jay and Carlos began beating him up._

_"E, let's go." She mumbles, pulling her to the direction of their hideout. Evie whimpers once they were there and Mal did the best thing she could do. She held Evie until she was sure Anthony wouldn't tattletale on anything._

"So you're telling me," Ben starts, a growl emitting from the back of his throat as he stands, "That guy is on the loose while he tried to rape you?"

The Villain Kids flinch at the term as Evie nods slowly, "Although we weren't sure about it. For all I know my mother told him to do it." She answers as Chad listens more intently, "That guy isn't going anywhere near my sister." He whispers, referring to his slightly younger sibling.

That's when all eyes turn to both Mal and Uma, the sea witch sighs first before starting.

_Uma was working at a very young age. By the age of six, she was already serving orders to the people of the Isle._

_She knew better than to piss her mother off as she stares at the cuts across her legs. God, the woman was still pissed about Ariel, huh?_

_What sucks more is that her mom only cares about her if she does something remotely evil like beating Harry up. Which, was completely staged for her sake, by the way._

_"Uma!" Her mom bellows and she found herself rushing towards the kitchens where her mother was. She flinches as murder flash through her mom's eyes._

_"What the fuck did I tell you? I told you to kill Frollo!" She yells and Uma lowers her head as Ursula slaps her. She couldn't make a sound for her throat was just punched a day ago. She hated it. She was helpless._

_What she hated more is the pain that shot through her leg as Ursula stabs a perfectly new knife on it. "That ought to teach you a lesson."_

_She walks it off. She couldn't cry, she couldn't curse or even yell for help. What didn't help is she was also thrown at the water. She was a great swimmer but the pain was still there. She couldn't move._

_Harry spots her from the dock and immediately calls Gil to save her. And blood was spilling all over the rotten wood as they quickly retrieve the knife. Uma knew nothing about it, for all she knew, her mother didn't care if she had even died._

"So I guess that leaves me to have the worst, huh?" Mal chuckled as all eyes train on her, she laughs weakly before finding reassurance in Evie.

_"Now where is that little excuse for a life?" Maleficent snarls as Mal sits on her bed, twirling a knife before throwing it on the wall. Her mom was here, about to beat the living hell out of her for sure._

_"What was the thing I heard about you sneaking in Hades' lair?" The older woman shrieked as she yanks on her daughter's hair. Fisting it and pulling her up, Mal hisses in pain._

_"I wanted to see him. He's still my father." She answers without missing a beat, Maleficent laughs, amused by her daughter before hitting her head on the wall. Mal wasn't fazed at all, not even when blood was pouring out of her forehead._

_Maleficent didn't stop there. She throws Mal off of the second floor to the first where she lands on the hard marble floor. She gasps, groaning in pain and clutching her stomach as her mother neared her._

_"You want to go back to your precious little father?" She asks sarcastically before pulling her daughter up once more. She throws her outside, not even bothering if everyone woke up._

_Then she takes the knife Mal had been playing with. And stabs her. Once, twice, thrice. It didn't stop until Mal was lying on her own pool of blood._

_She wasn't dead but she wasn't living either. She was slipping away when her mom had left her. Scoffing and telling how weak and pathetic she was._

_She closes her eyes, expecting death as she bleeds out. But she opens her eyes the next day and pain shoots throughout her body. Evie watches her, "Don't fucking move unless you want to die." She warns as Mal tries to smile at her._

_"Please, E, do you really think you could get rid of me that easily?"_

"Oh my." Audrey whispers as Mal finishes. Everyone, including the VK's except Evie had their jaws gaping.

"Why didn't I know that?" Jay asks as he collects his thoughts, Mal shrugged, "I had a pretty feisty nurse you were too afraid to go through." She smiles, shooting a proud wink at Evie.

"That was the day I realized how important Evie was and how I never want to lose her." Mal adds, taking Evie's hand as their friends watched.

 _"Do we tell them?"_ Mal asks Evie telepathically, the blue haired girl just nods at her.

"And now I realize how hard it is to be her girlfriend when all she does is do dumb shit with you people." Evie smiles fondly.

That's when smiles grew around everyone's faces.

"So, now that we _finally_ have a confirmation that you two are indeed dating, care to tell us the details?"

The two stare at each other, both sharing a laugh. God, they waited so long to tell them.


	9. IX

"Okay, let me clear this. You two got together _weeks_ before the leak?" Jay asked, confusion etched on his face as they all walked back to the camp site, Evie nods her head while Mal led them through the storm.

The moment they got off of the Lost Revenge, the previous storm that flooded the Kingdoms in Auradon had reached the Isle, "How can you even see through this rain?" Jane asks as they zigzag across trees, "Because we've literally walked miles while having a sprained leg, a little rain won't slow us down." Mal replies. 

"I'm confused, we both know that what you said on that record only meant recruiting Evie, then now you're together?" Carlos whispers as he catches up to their leader, she shakes her head, "I really like her, Los. And you weren't there when I recruited her." She lies through gritted teeth, beginning to chatter as the rain soaked her clothes. 

"I can see the tower!" Jay yells from behind as Mal's eyes glowed green, she raises a thumbs up to him as she continued walking, "Is this how you always rolled here?" It was a random question, that's when they realized their formation. 

Mal was up front while Jay was at the back with Harry, Uma takes the left side with Carlos and Evie takes the right with Gil, the Auradonians right in the middle, sheltered from every doom the Isle may bring. 

They flushed, not even realizing what they had done, it was on instinct, protect the ones who are unable to protect themselves. They knew what their friends were capable of when needed but the Isle was different. It might blend in a little with the pastels of Auradon but some of it would always remain dark. 

There would always be a part of it where it's dreary, cold and haunting. Where safety wasn't an option, only survival. 

Hades watches from inside the chaperones' cabin, the rain was pouing heavily and while the students are safe, he knew his daughter wasn't. 

"I'm going out." He announces, already setting himself aflame as he steps outside, Adam furrows his eyebrows while both Fairy Godmother and Belle stopped what they had been doing. "Our kids aren't here yet, there's no way I'm sleeping knowing that." 

"Mal, are you sure we're using the right path?" Evie asks, the rain just got worse and Mal was about ready to turn into a dragon to fly them off but any transformation of some sort is prohibited in the Isle unless you're a secret agent. 

"Oh fuck." Harry hisses as he realized where they were. Everyone turns to him, "What's wrong?" Lonnie asks warily, he shakes his head, nudging it to the side where everyone turned. "Oh you have got to be kidding me." 

They were on a clearing, just a few steps away from Maleficen't hidden castle. The VK's go into a more stealthy and fighting stance as they tried to look for their way out. "How did we even get here?" Uma asks Mal who only shrugged, "We took a turn too early, we were supposed to turn near the poison apple tree, we turned way before." 

Everyone jumps when the rustling of trees were heard, Mal readied herself, about to protect her friends. "Well, well. If it isn't my daughter." 

"Hi, mother." She replies through gritted teeth as she turns around, meeting her mother's eyes that glowed a menacing green, "And if it isn't your little pretentious friends. Boo!" Maleficent cackles, making the Auradonians flinch, well, except for Audrey. 

"And just when I thought I broke you, you're back here, not reigning any kingdom. I thought you're the Queen of Mean?" She taunts as she walked a circle around Audrey, who, in turn, was protected by Uma. "You don't get to talk to her like that." 

The Mistress of All Evil scoffed, "What happened to you? I thought you were the Queen of the Isle?" She spat, "Leave 'er alone." This time it was Harry who spoke, fists clenched as the Evil Fairy approached him, tutting as she lets her scepter trace a line on his back, "Such a waste, a sane Hook, would've been great for a villain." 

He doesn't let her get to him, clearly, she was to get in their heads. "Stop that." Gil warns, his voice turning to a growl as Maleficent cocks an eyebrow at him, she shoves Harry to the ground, thankfully, being caught by Ben. 

"Your father was right about you, you're nothing but a disappointment." She smirks, Mal tried so hard not to lunge at her mother but Carlos stops her with a scoff, "Really? For all we know, you guys failed in taking over Auradon. You're nothing but failures." 

"And you're one to talk? You failed at being a villain." She seeths, marching towards the teen when Jay stops her, "Another waste. Jafar would've been proud if he saw you now." She winks, menacingly as Jay shakes his head, "Jay, stop it." 

Mal felt her heart pound and her brain to freeze as Maleficent takes a step near Evie, she holds her, shielding the girl away from Maleficent. That didn't stop her. "My, Evie, you've grown a bit, and not the good kind."

While that broke her before, Evie just smiles to herself, "Really? I've been trying on this new diet. Hey, guys? Honestly, is muscle not a good look on me?" She taunts, confidently as Mal stares at her, kinda in awe, kinda worried and kinda aroused. Yes, even a gay Harry found Evie hot.

Maleficent glares at her before swinging her scepter, enough to hit Evie hard that she falls back. That's when Mal broke. While Carlos aids to the blue haired princess, Mal tears the fabric of her mother's cloak, making her hiss. 

Once she turned, she's done what she always wanted to do before. She lifts her up by the collar as her glaring eyes bore into her skull. "You hurt her, I kill you." She warns, her voice trembling a bit with anger. 

Jane watches in horror, trying to help by using her magic but she couldn't. Damn it. 

"Oh, Mally, have you forgotten? Villains don't fight fair." She laughs maniacally before pressing a blade on Mal's stomach, the girl didn't retaliate, only smirking when she spots blue, red and white from behind her, "And neither does your kids." 

Maleficent was brought to the ground as Ben and Chad wrapped her in rope, tight enough for them to escape. "This time we run, straight ahead." Mal instructs before taking Evie's hand and taking off.

The rest soon followed, leaving a tied Maleficent for Evil Queen to find. 

Hades groans in relief when he spots twelve figures approaching him, all wet as they ran, freely. "Dad, let's go! We tied mom up!" Mal laughs as she pushes her father inside the cabin.

"You _what?"_ Adam nearly shrieks as a now freshly showered Ben explained what happened like it was no big deal, Mal chuckles, snuggling closer to Evie as Ben got an earful. 

"Dad, please, we're fine. The VK's were pretty badass out there." He smiles, ultimately proud for fighting against one of the most evil people in the world when all their lives they were tormented by her. 

"You really think that you'd get to Auradon first with your stupid swimming skills?" Mal scoffs disbelievingly at Uma who raised an eyebrow, "And you think you can get there faster? I'd be entering the gates of our castle before you could transform."

Their friends watch in amusement as the two began to bicker, "I'd get faster if I run." Carlos adds while Lonnie scoffs, "Please, I run faster than you." 

"Oh god there's four of them." Evie mutters to herself as Ben joins in, "My beast would beat your asses."

"Now there's six." Gil adds when even Jane adds to the bunch, "Please, I'd outrun you before you even start." Ben scoffs, "Who said I was running?"

"Make it seven, I'm joining in." Evie huffs, "I'll join you." She smirks, walking over to her friends, "Really? You, Evie Queen? Join us?" Uma asks as the girl arches an eyebrow, "Scared to lose, Shrimpy?"

"Ouch." Carlos laughs as Uma glares at him, "Fuck off, dog boy. Anyways, who'd officiate this?" She asks as she stares at the rest, namely, Chad, Audrey, Jay, Gil and Harry, "Let us take the limo ride first, we'll text you when we get there." Gil explains as he rode the limo. 

Not even ten minutes of warming up later and he sends a text, officially starting the race. 

And okay, Uma was regretting her taunts to Mal earlier because now, she's the one having a hard time transforming. Damn shell.

While the runners had already took off, Jane was floating mid-air while purple smoke surrounded Mal. Evie smirks, jumping on Mal's scales when she turned to a dragon. 

Mal was just confused but there was no way she's throwing Evie off of her. So she starts flying as Uma starts swimming. 

"God damn it, I underestimated this!" Carlos pants as they reach Auradon, Mal was too much ahead of them with Jane not far behind. Ben just growls as he climbs on rooftops, running over them while Lonnie took it to the next level when she began running above cars. 

Mal growls as she see them, so she flew a little lower as Evie held on, she smirks when she knocks Ben off, making him fall. 

Harry leans on the lawn chair with binoculars as he watches the air. Mal was near and so was Evie who began dangling on Mal's tail, she furrows her eyebrows, purring at her before Evie lets go and enters the house, officially winning. 

And okay, in any normal day, Mal wouldn't let that happen but it's Evie. God, she'd do anything for her, even the craziest of things. 

"How does it feel, getting your ass beat?" She asks cockily as the others entered, all tired and casually stepping on Carlos who already passed out in the living room. "We get it, you won. Now shut up." Ben pants as he takes Audrey's water, gulping it all at once, leaving the girl to stare at him incredulously. 

Mal stares at her as she leaned on the threshold of her door, watching as Evie cockily made sure that everyone knew it was her who won, Evie who smiles and laugh with a snort when Carlos began to fart when Jane accidentally steps on him. 

She watches her, from afar, like all those times in the Isle as she dreamt about her happily ever after, as she dreamt about having someone to care for her. 

"Are ye done staring at yer girlfriend? 'Cause I could really use some help carrying Carlos to 'is room." Harry laughs as he drags Carlos to his room, Mal sighs, picking up the boy's feet while Harry held him by the arms. 

They both place him on his bed, "Thanks guys!" Carlos smiles at them, tiredly rubbing his eyes before falling asleep once more. "Yer really in love with 'er, aye?" He smiles as they walk to the backyard, Mal nods uneasily, "Sure."

"'Ave you heard a song so many fuckin' times then one day yer just feelin' it, thinkin' it's the best song ever made?" He asks, looking at her, she took a little bit of time to realize before nodding her head, "Ye already knew it existed but ye play it, once, twice then again 'n' again." 

"Next thing ye know, ye fall in love with the rythm, the beat, the lyrics and ye can't get it off of yer goddamn head because all ye want is that song." He continues, staring at Mal, "It's like fallin' in love. Ye knew this person existed, ye knew them for a long time but one day they start fuckin' with ye and next thing ye know, everythin' about 'em is perfect. Ye fall in love with their eyes, their smile, their hair. Everythin'." 

Mal lets herself think, not permanently drowning out Harry's words as she stares at the glass doors of their castle, she sees her, she sees everything. Like everything was finally clear. She recalls how her heart hammers whenever Evie smiles at her or how her eyes seem brighter when in reality, they're in a dark room. How she feels incomplete without seeing blue hair at least once. 

"Ye know what Belle told us a few months ago? We gamble everythin' just for love 'n' it doesn't matter if it's crazy because you'll do anythin' for that person."

Then she smiles. She realizes, she's done stuff and was always willing to do stuff for her, not because she was their leader and not because Evie was the softest, it was because she didn't want to lose her. She does everything in her own crazy way just so Evie would notice. 

"Is that what ye felt about yer girl?" He asked, noticing how Mal had been staring at Evie for the past three minutes, Mal gulps, letting realization dawn on her as her heart hammered at the mention of Evie as 'her girl.'

"Yes. I'm in love with her, completely, crazily, in love with her." She breathes out, laughing a little as Harry smiles. "Good. Now I know that I'm in love." He chuckles, glancing away from the fae. She raises an eyebrow, "Do I know this someone?" 

Harry just raises an eyebrow, contemplating in telling her before she shakes her head. "I'll tell ye soon."

And look, Mal has no idea how to handle this type of feelings so she sat on her wooden desk, glancing in between papers, paints, and her phone. She had to somehow tell her without being too obvious. 

That's when her laptop pinged, opening it, she takes a deep breath before opening her email. 

_To: eviequeen4@_ _[auradonmail.com](https://www.wattpad.com/user/auradonmail.com)   
_

_Subject: feelings_

_hey, e, it's mal._

_there's really no other way of telling this. actually, there is but i'm too much of a coward to do it._

_so i'm telling you here, because, hey, no one opens their emails these days. or please, at least, you don't open emails._

_it's funny how much time we've spent time together, i didn't know what i've been feeling. harry and i talked a little bit and he said something about falling in love is like discovering your favorite song, guess he's right._

_i remember that time i heard this one song, and i knew that shit existed in my playlist but one day, it was different. then i repeated it, over and over until i couldn't get enough of it. repeated it, on and on until i fell in love with the beat, the rythm, the vocals, the lyrics._

_then i saw you. i know this started off as a little thing for the sake of everyone, but right now, i'm thinking of you and i know that i'm utterly, completely, wickedly in love with you._

_i admit, i'm taking some time before i even admit it but, hOly fUCk, you caught me, you always did, i was in love with you, always was and probably always will. i just realized it now._

_anyways, if you ever read this and you actually have feelings for me, i'd lie to take you out on a date some time, for real, though._

_i'm not expecting your answer but, ya know, fingers crossed._

_love, mal_


	10. X

"Hey, what are you doing?" Mal flinches a little, immediately opening a new tab before closing the one for her email as Evie leans on her door with a goofy smile, "Nothing, you dork." She chuckles nervously, the princess raises an eyebrow at her, "Were you watching _porn_?"

Mal stares at her incredulously, eyes wide and mouth agape as she slowly squints at Evie, "Are _you_ okay?" She asks as the girl laughs, jumping on the bed and not moving, just, lying there.

Mal found it dorky but, Evie was her dork. She fell in love with this dork and there's no way out of it.

"Ben wants a vacation, I said no but he convinced me. We're all leaving tomorrow." Evie says, her voice muffled by the purple blanket Mal owns, "Where are we going?" She asks, stroking the princess' blue hair. "Scotland."

Mal frowns, "We're going to a land full of Harrys?" She gapes, not noticing the faint laugh Evie did before falling asleep.

She chuckles, fixing her best friend to a more comfortable position before trudging to the princess' room, taking her bags and beginning to pack for her, knowing every little thing Evie would need.

She chuckles when she saw some of the cute little socks Evie always wore, each resembling her friends. Mal made sure to put the purple and green dragon sock first. Just in case.

She then moves on to her own room, packing her own stuff before lying down on the bed, cuddling Evie peacefully.

She didn't let her heart pound too much, afraid it'll wake up the fair princess beside her.

She closes her eyes, wishing to the gods above that somehow, someday, they'll be together in a perfect world.

"What do you mean we're leaving? It's _two_ in the fucking morning, Ben!" Mal can hear the faint voice of Uma yelling groggily as the lights flicker open, the gap under her door illuminating the light she had just opened.

Mal groans, rubbing her eyes slowly as she made herself stand up, making sure not to wake the sleeping princess beside her. She opens the door, slowly closing it to see the excited faces of Ben, Harry and Gil while Uma stood there in her pirate boxers, Audrey just beside her, wearing one of Uma's clothes.

" _What_ -? You know, never mind, we're leaving?" She yawns, making a mental note to ask them about it later. "Yeah, I took it upon myself to book the nearest flight before the storm comes again." Ben explains as Mal nods, "I'll go wake the others up."

She knocks on everyone else's doors. Maybe she was biased but she didn't do much of a harm in waking up both Jane and Carlos as well as Chad and Lonnie, who, were all in a mess of tangled limbs when she saw them.

She throws a bucket of water over Jay, though. And maybe she's a little more biased when she carries Evie to the limo, not even bothering to wake her up, knowing her princess, she takes all their bags and throws them at the back.

Evie didn't stir awake until they were at the private jet, 30,000 feet up in the air and three hours in to the flight with Mal dozing off beside her. She furrows her eyebrows as she stands up, seeing Harry listening to music on one end, Uma swatting away Audrey's hair, Carlos already eating and Jay giving her the finger as soon as he sees her.

She rolls her eyes at him, reciprocating the gesture before trudging over to the restroom. "Hey, Eves, Mal told me to give this to you in case you woke up with her sleeping." Jay smiles, handing her a bag where her clothes were, she smiles.

She changes her pajamas for a more outgoing look before trudging back to the main cabin where Ben was playing video games with Jane and Chad, both kicking his ass as he drifts away.

"It's been years since we got here and despite all the dirty tricks we taught you, your ass is still being kicked." She giggles as she plops down in between Jane and Ben, her head falling on the young fairy's shoulder.

"Mind if I join?" She asks, picking up a controller once their game was done, Ben grumbles. This was going to be a long flight.

"Would ye lads be nice and tell us where the waitin' area is?" Harry asks one of the few guards on the airport, the others grimaced, his accent was thicker than it ever was and it's already confusing the living hell out of them.

The man smiles at him, pointing at one of the huge doors. Harry gives him a small thank you before pulling his luggage. Mal looked stupid, honestly. She had a duffel bag, a backpack all the while strolling two pieces of luggage.

"Here, let me he- oh, okay." Evie stammers, blushing madly when Mal transferred the other luggage on her hand so she could hold Evie's hand.

And okay, even Mal was caught off guard by what she did but can you fucking blame her? Evie hasn't read the email and she's making up the most of it before their relationship crumbles to the ground like Atlantica.

They climb inside the limo while watching all the sights to see when Carlos and Jay began jumping like idiots, "That's the lake where the Loch Noss was seen!" One of them exclaims but Mal pays them no mind when she sees Evie, glancing at the castle of Edinburgh.

"See something you like, princess?" Mal whispers as Evie blushes, yet again, her heart flutters as Mal holds her hand. "The castle, i-it's wow, Mal. I'd kill to have a castle like that." She replies in awe as Mal nods, "Someday, E, someday you'll get one. I promise."

The others watch them, in awe of how in love the two are, but just a little unaware that the two of them have no clue, either.

"We're going out, wear something decent." Evie announces as she enters the hotel room she and Mal shared, the fairy furrows her eyebrows, "Weren't you just out with Uma?" She asks, "Where did you two go anyway?"

"To set up her date with Audrey, now let's go because if you don't move your ass, we will be the one missing our date." And okay, Mal went completely rigid, absolutely forgetting that she was drinking scalding hot coffee that burned her togue. "Our date?"

Evie turns to her, already throwing out clothes for the fairy, "Yes. Or did you forget about the date I promised you?" She asks, hands on her hips as the memory came crashing into Mal, "Right, that date."

Evie grins before tossing her a black hoodie and jeans with the same shade, "Wow, what a surprising combination." She jokes sarcastically, she regrets it because next thing she knew, a shoe was thrown on her face.

Next time she saw Evie, the girl was wearing a dress and could be easily mistaken for a celebrity. Mal glares at her, "So that's how this is? I get to look like your body guard while you prance around Scotland looking like a whole goddess?"

And maybe, just maybe, Evie would be offended. For one time, she wishes that that would happen but Evie quickly turns around, biting her lip as she fought a grin, "What?"

Mal shakes her head frantically, "Nothing, nothing. I said, while you prance around Scotland looking like a cactus?" She asked, mentally face palming herself as Evie giggles, a blush appearing on her cheek. Mal had seen actual gods and goddesses, even telling Evie about the time she saw Aphrodite. And even after that, Mal thinks that she's a goddess.

"Let's go."

Evie brought her to an art museum. Evie brought her to a fucking art museum and she's torn between keeping quiet and squealing.

"Wha- Why- Whe- How?" She stammers as they enter, Evie grins, "Uma and I found it when she tried searching for a restaurant. I knew you'd like it here." Evie smiles as Mal glances at all the paintings.

There were portraits of monarchs, some abstract, some pop arts and she didn't know where to start. Eventually, they got around it, most of the time, Mal explaining it to Evie who, surprisingly, was actually interested in hearing her rant.

"M, quick question." The princess whispers as she stirs her coffee, Mal hums, eyes never leaving the painting in front of them, "Not that it's a big deal but why aren't you holding my hand?"

Evie's voice was soft and was just above a whisper, Mal sighs, finally, Evie asks her.

"They said not to touch the art." She smiles, the smile becoming wider as Evie blushed, flicking her forehead as her heart thrummed. "God, I've been waiting all night to say that."

"Okay, as much as I enjoy this, we gotta go." Evie whispers while Mal follows her, tugging her arm as they ran outside, up a hill where Audrey and Uma were. Mal furrows her eyebrows, "What the hell are you two doing here?"

"Evie promised a double date. Besides, we got the food." Uma answers as she gives the two some blankets and food, "It's Burns Night today and what better way to end a date with that?" Evie points to the sky where fireworks join the stars.

Mal just stares at her, call her crazy but she was falling harder and harder and harder until she can't even see where she fell from or where she's going. All she knows is that she's in love, actually in love with the girl right beside her.

"Take a picture it'll last longer." Evie jokes as Mal began to shy away from her, the fae kept quiet for a while and Evie was at peace until a camera flash interrupts her. Mal just grins as she hides her phone away.

When the two returned to their hotel room, they were the exact opposite of Uma and Audrey who were tired and beat. They were still hours away from that and Mal groans.

She flicks through her Royalflix, mirroring it on the TV as she played Grown Ups, Evie furrows her eyebrows, "What's that?" She asked as a montage of boys playing basketball in teeny tiny shorts appear on it, Mal smiles, "Remember that promise? The one you'd watch Grown Ups with me? This is the time."

The two began to watch, laughing at some parts until Evie was full on snorting, they switched from Grown Ups to Legally Blonde, making Mal complete her promise to Evie. They finished it by midnight but they were far from tired. That's when Mal smirks to herself.

"Oh no, that's your scheming face." Evie frowns.

"Come on, let's go."

"Where?"

"The kitchens."

"Mal, if we get arrested, it's your fault." Evie whispers as they enter the double doors, the purple hairedfae waves her off, "I never get caught."

As she began gathering ingredients, Evie thought that it would be a great idea to play fun with her. So she takes the bag of flour, taking a few of it and sprinkling it on top of Mal's head. The fairy growls, eyes glowing as she throws flour on Evie's face.

Then she ran, hiding behind a counter as Mal's footsteps got louder. "Got ya!" Mal jumps but Evie was quickly out of her grasp, running around as she throws more flour at her.

While Evie had more flexibility and grace, Mal had the strength and speed she needed just enough to tackle Evie and twirl her around, "Let me go, you weirdo!" Evie giggles, retaliating as Mal begins to tickle her.

They did get some work done, cleaning up the mess and knocking on their friends' doors as they placed down chocolate chip cookies with notes.

"Finally tired?" Mal asks her best friend, the girl she was absolutely in love with as she nods. "Very."

"Hey, E? Thank you." She whispers, the blue haired girl only snuggles closer to Mal.

When Evie wakes up the next day, she didn't expect a rose in exchange for Mal, she furrows her eyebrows, the door to the bathroom wasn't locked, their bags were packed neatly and a note written in blue ink was attached to the door.

I got up at six thirty,

just because I knew,you'd be up before me,and i wouldn't know what to do.

now, princess when you step outside,

you'll be met by an outrageous sight,use it so you could find,where i'm taking you tonight.

She paid it no mind, kinda surprised and kinda flustered that Mal would go out of her way and do something for her when she clearly heard that she promised Jay and Carlos a trip to the lake where the Loch Ness was seen.

She took a shower, put on some clothes and got outside where another bouquet of blue roses greet her, Ben holding it out with a sheepish smile since he was caught playing games on his phone. "How long have you been waiting there?"

"Long enough for me to have the motivation and beat Audrey's ass." He grins, nearly shoving his phone towards Evie's face, the girl chuckles, "Okay, congrats on that but where's Mal?" She asks before entering the room once more, muttering a simple spell to keep the roses fresh.

"Go down the lobby, Jay's there." He dismisses, waving her off as he goes inside their room, "Mind if I stay here?" He shouts, Evie just smiles at him, "Just don't mess it up."

She follows Ben's instructions. The moment she stepped foot on the lobby, Jay was there, sporting a huge smile as he hands her a map. "Just trust Carlos on this one, alright?"

Evie was confused as fuck until a limousine stopped in front of her, Carlos right at the front as Harry smiled charmingly at her, "I shall take ye map, me lady." He winks, taking the map before entering the passenger seat.

Evie didn't even realize that Audrey and Jane were there, "Oh no, what the hell are you two doing here?" She asks as the two smirk at each other, "We're here to make sure you dress to impress."

"Mal, are you sure this isn't illegal, in some sort?" Lonnie asks as they lugged the picnic baskets, tables and the box of rose petals, she shrugged, "Ben had it closed for me." She answers, Uma just huffs, placing down the table.

That's when Mal received a text from Harry, telling her to go up at the castle. She smiles, jogging over to the hill and leaving Chad in charge.

Evie was just confused when she stepped off. She was at a castle, Edinburgh Castle with Mal standing there, in a fucking suit.

"Oh my god, Mal what are you doing?" She asks, a faint blush coming to her cheeks as Mal stared at her like she was the most beautiful girl in the world.

Scratch that, Mal actually thinks that she is indeed the most beautiful girl in the world. That no amount of makeup, no amount of blessings, no amount of being a goddess could ever compare to what Evie is.

"I- E, you look stunning." Mal tries to say, her hands fumbling with the tiara she held. Evie just stares at her with a sweet shy smile. "A princess doesn't parade around without her crown."

Evie watches as Mal places the tiara on her head. A little shaky, she admits but nonetheless, it made her heart flutter and her stomach to make a million butterflies explode.

"So, shall we?" She asks as she offers an arm for the princess to take, Evie obeys, taking Mal's arm as they walked inside the castle.

While Ben's castle was far more dreamy and given its origin, more with a fairytale, Edinburgh held secrets.

Evie was intrigued at every intricate design, every arch, every wooden door and every golden handle inside.

But she was more intrigued by the purple haired fae who held her close, held her safely.

From then until today, Mal had always been her safe haven. When filthy scums were eyeing her, Mal would hiss and glare at them as she ushers the princess away.

While her mother told her all the hurtful words a girl could even think of, Mal was there, not even a minute after, reassuring her that what Grimhilde had said is utter bullshit because it might not be to everyone, but to her, to _Mal_ , she was the fairest of them all.

_Evie stands there, horrified and broken as Grimhilde taunts her with the harshest of worst a fifteen year old could ever muster._

_She had been called useless, pathetic, a fake, a flirt and many more things but she was never called that._

_And by that, she meant ugly. Horrifying, unattractive. All her life she was called beautiful._

_Mal growls to herself as she sits on one of the chairs, just a few steps away from Evie while her own mother was resting, she was daring enough to stay at the common area while Grimhilde ruins her daughter._

_"You ugly little brat ruined my beauty sleep." Grimhilde fumes before taking off, her cape billowing behind her as she ascended the stairs of the Bargain Castle._

_That's when Mal stood, turning Evie so she'd face her. The girl looked mortified, shying away from Mal's gaze, thinking she's not beautiful enough to be even looked at._

_"You little shit you listen to me right now." Mal starts in a hushed tone, the nickname caused Evie to laugh a little and Mal smirks, "Whatever your mom says, that's complete and utter bullshit, okay?"_

_"Because while not everyone might think that you're the fairest of them all, some people do." The purple haired fairy encourages, but not enough because Evie frowns. "That's the problem, only some do." She scoffs, prying herself away from Mal. Her grip just got tighter but not enough to hurt her._

_"Other people don't matter, E. Think about it, Jay thinks you're so wickedly charming, Carlos thinks you're gorgeous, Dizzy thinks you're a hero and even Uma says you're pretty. That's enough, even if it's only the people who matter think you're beautiful, that's what makes you beautiful. You matter to them."_

_Evie felt her eyes water at Mal's little speech and she could see Mal smile, "How about you? What do you think of me?"_

_"I think of you as gorgeous, E. Look, I might not be the nicest girl out there or the most fashion forward villain like Cruella but you're gorgeous. And you know why?" Mal asks, dragging Evie to her room and facing her on a broken mirror._

_"Because you're you. And no matter what anyone says about you, to me, you're the fairest of them all." She finishes and Evie broke the dam. She lets the tears fall down freely as Mal comforts her, rubbing soothing circles on her back._

_"You've gone soft, Mal. Your mother would send you to hell for this." Evie chuckles as the other girl smirks, "She could try but I'm bot letting myself get away from you."_

And she tried her best to reciprocate every action Mal had done for her. Whether if it meant calming her down, tending to her wounds or beating the living hell out of some guys when she couldn't. Evie would do it for her.

"You zoned out a little, princess." Mal hums as they enter the throne room. She sits on the throne nonchalantly, not even bothering Evie's bulging eyes. "Sit anywhere you want and tell me what's going on in that big brain of yours."

Evie rolls her eyes at the jab before sitting on the throne beside Mal's. "It's nothing. I was just thinking about those times where you made me feel so much better about myself."

Mal could feel her cheeks heat up, remembering all the times that she did. "I've gone soft for you." She mutters while Evie smirks, "And I've gone hard because of you."

_In any other normal day, Evie would've turned the other way and probably puke at the nearest dumpster when she sees a corpse. Or at least, someone about to be a corpse._

_She just robbed a man, taking a bottle of alcohol, rags and an orange from him as she puts it inside her small bag. About to turn away from Bargain Castle, she sees a person, in their own pool of blood._

_She'd turn away but she knew this person. Knew her all too well that she ran towards her, not even bothering if the rusty smell of blood and the red stain destroys her clothes. Mal was here, beaten up from head to toe._

_"Oh dear." Evie whimpers, not entirely knowing how to mend to her when anyone could watch. Where anyone could tell her off as she mended the daughter of Maleficent herself._

_She lifts Mal's shirt to see not one but eight stab wounds in total. Most of them were cuts and one wasn't even a cut but there was one particular spot where Mal had bled out. Her side was gushing streams of blood and Evie immediately presses a rag on her side, putting some slight pressure in order to stop it from bleeding._

_"Aye, took a pretty bad one, eh?" She could hear a gruff voice from behind and before she knew it, Harry Hook was helping her, the two of them carrying Mal over to their hideout._

_"Harry, please, don't tell anyone about this." Evie pleads as she tends to Mal wounds, the pirate nods, "I'd bring ye some water to wash 'er."_

_And he leaves her for a moment before lugging a pint of water. She shoots him a smile as she stitched the wound shut. "I promise I wouldn't tell. Lass saved me from me dad, wouldn't be here without 'er. It's just a lil' payback, really, a life for a life."_

_Evie nods, stroking Mal's hair as Harry taps on the window, "I better leave ye off to it. I was never 'ere, aye?" He winks before stealthily going down and closing the gates._

_While the Villain Kids had their fair share of feuds, a life was always in exchange for a life. They weren't obliged to do so but they made it seem like it is. It's the least they could do when someone saves you._

_Mal doesn't really wake up until the next day and the two boys were about ready to find her when Evie stops them, shooting them both down with a glare only she was capable of holding._

_A week passed and Mal was back, slightly injured but not bad enough to die. Or so they thought._

_Mal was stupid enough to punch a man for being way too close with Evie and she received a blow to her scars._

_Evie didn't back down. She might not be as strong but Mal was not as smart at her. So, with her charm, she approaches the man with a coy smile before taking his dick, squeezing it and turning it to an abnormal position until Evie was sure it's broken._

_No one cared how much damage you get in the Isle, no one cared how much you inflict to others either._

_The man understandably goes down as Evie stomps on it more, the pain enough for him to pass out. Mal stares at her in awe as she took what she could get and acted like it was nothing._

_"You saved my ass." Mal chuckles, wincing a little when she took a step up their stairs, Evie laughs, "Please, that won't be the last."_

And Evie was right, because that wasn't the last time she saved Mal.

"Just recently, M, I saved your ass from the paparazzi." Evie joked while Mal smirks, Evie was really on of a kind.

"What are we doing, M?" She asks as she stares at her best friend, Mal just smiles at her. "Remember when I actually promised to take you out on a castle, far from Auradon. Ones we haven't seen yet? And how I promised that you'll be a princess?"

Evie bites back a smile at the memory while Mal grins, "Our love story might've been fake but I'm keeping my promises. Actual promises or fake ones."

The enchantress just couldn't find herself to say anything as Mal takes her hand and drags her to the ballroom, where a string quartet was waiting for them, all donning grins for the two.

Music starts and Mal, being the extra ass bitch she is, takes Evie right at the middle. The two dancing with the violins just at the back. "So far, I 'promised' you the flowers, now the banquet which I also consider as the party."

Evie's jaw left her mouth as Mal stops them, "And wow, we're just on time." Mal hums as she drags Evie out, took her down a hill and presented her with only the most beautiful picnic the blue haired princess has ever seen.

"Mal, what the hell?" She asks, fighting back a sob as Mal comforts her, "Hey, hey! I did this to make you smile, not cry." She chuckles as Evie glares at her, smacking her head with her purse.

"I did include a picnic in our story." She chuckles, despite looking all calm, Mal was buzzing. She didn't really know what she had to do but she was proud of herself so far.

The two ate their favorite foods in silence as the sound of crashing waves echoed around them.

Evie just stares as Mal busies herself with the heaping amount of strawberries she had brought.

"There was a last part to our story, though." Evie mutters, making Mal to stop and freeze. "Yeah."

And while all Mal wanted to do is actually tell her how she feels, how her heart is screaming to tell her that she has to tell Evie now, she doesn't.

"Would it be sinfully foolish me if I tell you that I'm a bad kisser?" Mal just smirks as Evie laughs, blushing a little at the fond memory.

Evie was the angel to Mal's devil. The reason she had turned her sins to prayers, her lust to love and her sweet words to verses that only Evie deserves to hear.

But at the same time, Evie was also a devil and every single time Mal sees her, she wants to sin. Sin enough that it sends her to hell.

"Would it be more sinfully foolish if I told you how much I want to kiss you right now?" Mal rasps out, her voice turning husky as Evie just stares at her. "Do it."

And she does. She pulls Evie close to her, letting her hand to rest on the sorceress' thigh as they kissed.

This time, Mal didn't freeze. She kissed Evie, pouring her heart out and Evie just kissed her with the same feverish desperation.

The blue haired girl squeaked when Mal's tongue enters her mouth, already asserting dominance where she was more than ready to submit to.

Time stopped around them and the crashing of waves were heard no more as they kissed, under the moonlit skies with a million stars gazing over them.

Mal smirks when pulling away, "Not so much of a bad kisser now, huh?"

Evie just pulls her in for another.


	11. XI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this one's dedicated to @sofialover4 on twt :))

"I had a great night, M." Evie grins, a little too much as the fairy smirks, "Anything for you. Oh, and is it okay if I take Jay and Gil out tomorrow? Do you want to join?" She asked, referring to their little travels, the sorceress shakes her head, "I'd catch up with Audrey, I'll be fine, babe."

Evie flushed, stuttering a little as she realized what just came out of her damned mouth. "What?" Mal asks, her voice a little shaky as Evie gapes at her, trying to comprehend and do some damage control. 

"I- I'm going to take a shower." She mumbles before getting away from the fairy, all the while, staring at her as she left. "Babe. Huh." Mal smiles to herself before changing into her nightwear. 

Evie bites her lip, her back pressed on the door as she slumps down, shoving down all the butterflies she felt in her stomach before taking a shower. 

"E, I'm leaving!" Mal announces while Evie was on the balcony, when the door closed, she let herself relax. 

Love wasn't exactly a thing to be taught on the Isle. It was just a mere hoax, a dream, if you will. 

No one had really experienced that, no one except the children of those who actually wanted a better life for their family. Celia, for example. 

Villain Kids have no clue to what love is and they don't exactly know how to. Or at least, that's until they met the people who've changed them. 

"God, Mal, what are you doing to me?" She whispers to herself, closing her eyes as she took in the view that is Scotland. She didn't even notice the opening of the door and the figure beside her. 

"Hey." It was soft, gentle, a voice she could always trust. A voice that always trusted _her_ even if she was the daughter of a god forsaken villain who nearly killed an innocent young girl because of envy. 

"Hey." She replies, smiling at the young King who held this innocent look, one he always wore with pride. Evie stares at him, furrowing her eyebrows at the sight of a gash on his neck down. "Ben, who the _fuck_ did that to you?"

He shakes his head and waves her off, "It's nothing, Eves, I promise. Just a little thing you do for love." He sighs, staring at the rising sun while Evie's heart paced. "Love?" 

"Yeah, love. Don't tell me you don't know what love is after everything you and Mal have?" He asks silently, Evie flinches yet not enough for Ben to notice. She just, shrugs. 

"Tell me, Ben. What is love like to you?" She asks above a whisper while Ben chuckles, "You remember the time I went through hell and back just so I could get the four of you off of the Isle?" He asks, Evie nods. 

"Love is doing anything for the person you're in love with. Even if it meant that you'd go through hell and back." He adds while Evie stares at him blankly, urging him to go on, "It doesn't matter, what anyone else says, because caring for them makes you happy and you'll go through everything despite the amount of pain you have to endure, just because you're in love with them."

"I would know, I've been like this for a while." He ends while Evie chuckles, then her face turned serious, "Oh my god, are you in love with the four of us?" She asks in disbelief while Ben looks at her horrified, "No! No, It's- It's Harry."

Evie scoffs in surprise, "Oh my, I knew it!" She grins triumphantly before pulling Ben in a hug, the King wincing a little as Evie presses down on his wound. "Oh, right, sorry." She apologizes, Ben just shakes his head, "So, is that how you feel with Mal?" 

She only smiles, "I think so." 

They talk for a few more hours before Ben had to leave with Lonnie, both about to go in a treasure hunting while Evie walks around the pool deck, just enough to see Jane watching over the little kids swimming as she read through the pages of her History book. 

"Getting ready for finals week, huh?" Evie jokes as she sits down beside Jane, her foot dangling by the edge of the pool. Jane laughs, "Come on, we're going to college, there's no way I'm failing." 

"Where are you going anyway?" Evie asks, Jane shrugs, "Auradon University, Carlos and I talked about it already." She answers before setting the book down to a dry space, Evie nods, "So, you and Carlos, huh?"

The young fairy blushes as Evie brings him up, a little too obvious and Evie found it hard not to squeal. "What's it like, love?" She asks as Jane furrows her eyebrows. That's odd. Sure enough, out of everyone, it would be _her_ to know. 

"Eves, you should know that by now. You and Mal literally have it." Jane deadpans, Evie shakes her head, "Y-Yeah, I know. I just want to hear it from other people." She deflects while Jane nods, a small smile tugging on her lips as she thinks of Carlos. 

"It's like this weird emotional rollercoaster that at first you didn't want to get on but next thing you know, you'd like to do it again and again because it makes you happy." It started as a silent whisper, getting louder and louder for Evie to hear. 

"It's stupid but you do it, you know you'd get dizzy, you'd get hurt but still you do it. That's love. You know you could get hurt, you could regret it and you couldn't just get off of it right at the bat but it's all worth it." 

Evie takes in a deep breat, her head going back and forth as she thought of her. Of Mal and her stupid plots that Evie would always be on. Plots that Mal drags her into and despite all the shit she's done, despite all the harm, in the end, Mal would find a way to make things worth it. Even if it wasn't for her sake, even if it was just for Evie's. 

"Speaking of which, I gotta go. He just texted me." Jane grins before leaving her alone. Evie hated the fact that she had to be alone because not only did she hate the awkwardness, she hated that once she's alone, she gets to think and think and think until it's too much.

But thank every god above and below that Uma came, sporting a huge water gun and about to shoot her soaking when she noticed how deep in thought she was. "Anything wrong, blueberry?" 

Evie blows out a puff of air as Uma sits beside her, "I'm fine. Just thinking." She waves off, Uma raises an eyebrow, "That's your overthinking face. Your thinking face is squinting at the shit you're thinking about." 

Evie laughs a little as she pushes Uma's shoulder, "What is it?" She asks again, Evie sighs, "Are you in love with Audrey?" She asks. 

Uma looked like she had seen a ghost because damn, that sure caught her off guard. "No. Or, not yet at least. I've never been in love." She answers and Evie just kept silent, "But I'd like to think of love as something so vile and cruel."

"Everything gets stripped away from you. Your masks, your defences, your everything. And you can't do anything about it because you're trapped. You're in love and you just can't seem to see anything you dislike about that person." She adds, Evie raises an eyebrow at her, "Where's Uma and what have you done to her?"

The sea witch rolls her eyes and actually shooting Evie with a spray of water. She got it worse because next thing she knew, she was dunked on the pool. 

"Hey! That was uncalled for!" Uma growls, but before she could even grasp Evie's foot, she was running away, laughing. The constant thought of Mal being everything she ever dreamed of stuck on her mind. 

She didn't even realize that she was on her way down to the cafe where Chad was, scrolling on his phone as he texted back and forth with his sister, making sure she stays away from Anthony Tremaine. Yes, he's still on the process of doing that.

"Hey." Evie greets, walking over to him as she waited for her coffee, Chad removes his gaze from his phone, seeing Evie, he shoots her smile. "Mal not with you?" He asks simply, the sorceress nods, "Out on an adventure with idiots named Jay and Gil."

Chad laughs at that as he stares at the girl, "So how about you, no Lonnie?" Curiously, Evie tilts her head to the side, waiting for an answer. "Funnily enough, she's with the idiots taking an adventure."

"What takes you here?" It was a simple question and Evie found herself nervously fumbling with her fingers. She could talk about this to anyone but Chad was never one of them. The only problem is, there's no way out. "What's falling in love like for you, I mean."

The question seems to have surprised the man because he was coughing up his drink. Evie apologizes, handing him tissues while he regains his composture. 

"I- I treat love as a game, a sport if you will." And okay, even Chad was disgusted to say that just as much as Evie was disgusted to hear it but listen, "And I don't mean the bad kind, okay?" 

"You have a lot of tactics, tons of rules, some strategies and there are players. But you stay commited to the game because you don't want to ever lose with the one you're playing it with. You do everything you could just to win and in the end, you get a ring."

And okay, it was out of context but Evie smiles, understanding him, understanding that _this_ is what she felt with Mal. That Mal would always be the dumbass bisexual who radiates chaotic energy and yet, she's in love with her.

"Hey, dumbass. Uma's looking for you." Audrey announces once she sees Chad, the boy pales before running away, Evie raises an eyebrow. "What was that about?" She asks, the girl just shrugs, "I heard you talked with Uma."

"Really?" Evie asks, confused, a little excited and wanting to ask Audrey the same thing she asked the girl. "No, I just saw you shoving her to the pool and I ran away from her because I couldn't get wet."

"And yet you're still dating her. On that note, how is it?" Evie teases the princess who clearly flushed red. "Shut up, you're dating a dragon." She retorts, voice small as she squeaked, "Speaking of which, are you in love with Uma yet or are you not? Because really, I couldn't tell."

The princess rolls her eyes at Evie's smugness, "Please, your dumb ass is so in love with Mal that we can't even tell if the two of you had been married for years." She smirks, barely even noticing how Evie's smile fall. "What's your definition of love anyway?"

"Love is never perfect and never cliché, despite all the fairy tales, it's something you don't expect. No offense to Chad's parents but the real love story here is Ben's parents. Love takes time to grow, you get to know a person and fall in love with them, you don't see them and say, 'Hi, I'm so in love with you let's get married.'"

Evie was surprised to hear this from the princess, I mean, she did live in a fairytale life but even she thinks they're all boohockey. 

"You fall in love with someone so suddenly that you don't even realize it the first time until one day you're like, holy shit, I'm in love. You fall in love with the person you least expect but then you realize that they have everything you had been looking for your whole life and it takes time to process it but there's no way out."

She listened, so suddenly the cafe was drowned out, all she could hear was Audrey's words and it's outrageous to think that this girl, the one who wanted love so badly found hers and she talks about it like she's been in love again and again. 

"Aye, ye lasses up fer some company?" But then again, Harry was here, interrupting them a little. But that didn't mean they couldn't talk about it. "Sure, why not." Evie smiles, scooting over as Harry sits beside her. "What are we talkin' about?"

"Love." Audrey replies, taking a sip from her latte. The two expected Harry to frown or scrunch his face but he smiles, into a grin that nearly tears his face apart. "What love? Is it about me cap'n or is it about the dragon fart?" 

"Both. And since you're here, how about you, Hook, what's love for you?" Audrey smirks as Harry furrows his eyebrows, remembering what he had told Mal a few days ago. 

"I got a question for ye lasses, 'ave you ever heard a song and ye knew it existed before but that one time it's so beautiful?" He asks, the two nod, "And ye knew it existed but for some reason ye can't get enough of it that one time and ye repeat it, over and over and over again."

"And for some reason, ye can't stop it, next thin' ye know, yer fallin' in love with everythin' about it. The beat, the rythm, the lyrics, everythin' and ye can't get 'em out of yer head. That's how fallin' in love is. Ye knew this person and then one day they're different and ye can't get enough of them until ye fall in love with everything they have."

"Ye fall in love with them and ye can't get 'em out of yer head and ye know they're the only one ye want. That's how fallin' in love is. It's like discoverin' yer favorite song." He finishes, the two princesses kinda dumbstruck at how easy it is for him to say that. 

"Oh my god, Hook, what's gotten into you?" Evie breathes out, the pirate just smiles, not even realizing that the two caught him glancing at the young king walking just outside the cafe. 

"Well, look at the time, I'm going back to my room." Evie smirks, shooting Audrey a look to go with her as Ben appears before them, "Hi Bennyboo, bye Bennyboo!" She bids before running to the elevators. She lost Audrey along the way but based from the shriek she heard, she was sure Uma found her. 

She goes to the roof, just in time to see the dumbassery Carlos is doing. "Oh my god." She laughs as the boy smirks, "Too late you weren't here for the launch." He chuckles, turning around to meet Evie as he packed his stuff. 

"Where's Mal?" He asks, Evie shrugs, "Probably killing Jay, Gil and Lonnie right now in some forest." She jokes, making the boy laugh as well. "Carlos this might sound really random but have you told Jane you love her yet?"

Carlos stops what he was doing and furrows his eyebrows, then realization dawns on his face. "Wait, you haven't told Mal, have you?" He asks, already ushering Evie towards the railings. "No, no, I've told her. It's just that, I've been listening to almost everyone rant about love today and I want to hear it from you."

He relaxes, sighing in relief. "Love is wanting someone despite everything they've done, despite where they came from, despite who they are. You love them because they're them. Even if they're total nutjobs, you love them."

"You like someone because, you love someone despite. And somehow, in some way, they bring out the best in you just like you bring out the best in them. Just magically, you want to be better because of them." He finishes, Evie smiles, "Thanks, Los." 

And then her phone rang, she stares at the photo of Mal, her heart races before answering it. 

"Hey, M." She smiles, walking away from the white haired boy, "Hey, E. We're coming back early and I was wondering if you'd want some food? We're like a block away from the hotel." The sound of Mal's voice rings back as she enters the elevator, she smiles. 

"Yeah, sure. I'm on my way back to our room, actually." She replies, pressing the button of their floor on the elevator, "Why? Where were you?" Mal asks, a crease already etched on her forehead as she enters a shop with Jay trailing behind her. "I was on the roof with Carlos."

Mal nods, "Okay, I gotta go, E. I'll see you then." 

"Hey, M? Wait." Evie stops her, just like how the elevator stops, "I love you." It was three words they exchanged before but somehow, it felt new. Mal smiles, "I love you too, E."

Evie closes her eyes as she opens their hotel room, flinging herself to the bed, the words of her friends echoing around her mind. 

_Love is doing anything for the person you're in love with. Even if it meant that you'd go through hell and back.  
_

She closes her eyes and all she could see were all the times she had went through hell and back for Mal. Whether it was tending to her despite the gore, fighting off pirates and thieves or actually risking her life by returning to the Isle and nearly staying for her. She could see all the times Mal did the same for her without any hesitations.

_You know you could get hurt, you could regret it and you couldn't just get off of it right at the bat but it's all worth it_

The times she'd been hurt, physically and mentally, being drained of life but still doing it because at the end of the day, seeing Mal smile was a complete and utter success. She sees Mal doing the same god forsaken things for her without even a blink.

_You're in love and you just can't seem to see anything you dislike about that person.  
_

All the dumb stuff, the stupidity, the failed attempts of doing something right, she sees everything Mal has done but in some stupid way, she loves it. She doesn't care if Mal was stupid or if Mal was a dragon, she couldn't care less. 

_But you stay commited to the game because you don't want to ever lose with the one you're playing it with.  
_

She doesn't want to lose her, not now, not ever. She knows that and all this time she tells herself it was because she can't live her life without her best friend but right now, everything was as clear as day.

_You fall in love with the person you least expect but then you realize that they have everything you had been looking for your whole life and it takes time to process it but there's no way out.  
_

She opens her eyes at the sound of the doorknob being opened, then Mal was there, sporting the huge grin she always wore whenever Evie was around. The blue haired girl's heart sank and came to life at the same time, Mal was here. The prince she always searched for, the knight she always dreamt of and the true love she waited for. 

_You like someone because, you love someone despite.  
_

"Fuck." Mal mumbles as she drops the cans of their sodas, Evie just stared at her dumb ass. And she sighs dreamily to herself. Mal was such a dumbass but what the fuck? Since when did this bitch's clumsiness become cute?

_Ye knew this person and then one day they're different and ye can't get enough of them until ye fall in love with everything they have.  
_

"Hey, E!" Mal finally greets her as she got her fucking life together. Evie blinks as she tried smiling. Her heart was racing and Mal's smile didn't help her. Not at all. 

It's like everything shifted, everything was different and now, her heart hammers at the mere thought of Mal. 

She was in love with her. Genevieve Morell Queen was in love with Maleficent Bertha Moors. 


	12. XII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a very short filler chapter that may or may not have clues to the ending. *wink wink*

"E, you're looking a little pale, you alright?" Mal asks, approaching the blue haired princess to check on her. First was her neck, then her forehead and Evie just can't help herself but nuzzle into Mal's touch.

Mal doesn't move, but her hands cup Evie's face and the girl blushes. "Something's bothering you." She starts, slowly and tender, Evie gulps. "I'm fine, M. J-Just a little cold." She chuckles nervously as beads of sweat trickle down her neck.

"E, you're sweating and you're telling me it's cold? Did you see a ghost?" Mal asks, a little too excited because hello? It's time Evie realizes that they live in a damn fairytale world, ghosts are just as real as magic.

"I'm good, I promise. How about you? You look like you buried Jay alive." She laughs, finally being cool as Mal smirks, there were dirt smudged on her jeans and her arm, "No but I did dunk him down on the lake." 

Evie rolls her eyes at the fairy, shoving her towards the shower, "You stink, get away from me." She grimaces as Mal snorts, "Ben says we're leaving tonight!"

"We're _what_?" Uma asks in disbelief as they all meet up with their luggages on the roof, Ben shrugs, "We're teleporting back home. It's much faster and we'll be just in time for the Championships." He shrugs, Mal furrows her eyebrows. 

"What Championships?" She asks, hands dropping every bag she held as Ben squeaked, "The Tourney ones?" He says, a little uncertain as Mal's eyes glowed green, "I'm your fucking captain and I don't fucking know? I thought today was the Sherwood and Isle game?"

"The Falcons pulled out of the tournament when they've been caught using magic. It's us against the Pirates and the game is tomorrow. There will be scouts from colleges and even professional teams." Jay explains as Mal sighs, Evie was just confused. 

"No one's getting away from my grasp once we get home." She growls, next thing they knew, there was this pain contorting their form. And they were in Auradon, early in the morning. 

"Move your asses!" The purple haired fairy yells at her teammates as she ran ahead of them, warming them up with a morning jog while the rest of their friends sat on the sideline. "I feel bad for them." Gil mutters as they turn from jogs to avoiding the Dragon Fire. 

"I can't blame Mal, she's been working her ass off just to win." Evie replies, trying to defend her best friend as she watched. She understand how lethal Mal could be but it's for everyone else. She's just trying to help them out. 

They continued on training until students filled the bleachers to watch them, their friends occasionally leaving to get them some snacks. That's when Ben receives an unusual phone call. 

"That better be important, Ben!" Mal yells as she dunks a bottle of water on her head, he doesn't bother to answer her, immediately picking up. "Hey, Dr. Facilier, what's up?" He asks, gaining the attention of a nearby Celia and Freddie along with their friends. 

_"We can't pass through the bridge, Benjamin. What's happening?"_ The Voodoo master asks, Ben furrows his eyebrows, "What do you mean? The barrier is down." He mutters, peeking over the trees to see that indeed, there was no barrier surrounding the Isle. 

_"One of my students were knocked back, one of them passed."_ He replies, Ben gulps, this was weird. "I'll ask for Fairy Godmother and Hades to assist you. We'll see you soon." 

Then he ends the call and proceeds on calling both Mal's father and Jane's mom, asking them to assist the Isle Pirates that are on the barrier. "What's up?" Uma asks, their whole team now surrounding him. 

"Some people from the Isle can't pass through the bridge, there's no barrier but it seems like they can't get off." Different reactions were done by his friends, some were confusion, some were laid back and some held fright. 

"I got your parents to help out." He adds, pointing to both Jane and Mal who could only nod, although one does it frantically, as if eager to get some answers why it happened. That was Mal. 

They finished their practices, grabbed some lunch together and sat on the field as they waited for their competitors. "Can you believe we're celebrating your anniversary tomorrow?" Jane grins excitedly at the Core Four. 

It's going to be exactly three years since they arrived and they're just more than thankful that they've done so much since they arrive. It was due to them, most especially Evie to why Villain Kids have the life they now deserve. 

That's why some Villains try to be good now, just so they could give themselves some redemption, something to actually live for in exchange for evil. 

"None of this wouldn't happen if Mr. Beastie here didn't do anything." Jay smiles, pulling Ben close and ruffling his hair while the others laughed. Mal stares at Evie, wondering just how someone could be so fucking beautiful, how someone can be so joyous despite spending sixteen fucking years inside a hell hole. 

"What'cha staring at?" A teasing voice asked Mal, she closes her mouth, unable to retort, she didn't care for once. All that's important is Evie's here. She's smilling and acting like there's nothing wrong in the world. That every little thing was perfect. 

"Hey, Eves, let's go." Audrey mutters, ushering her and Jane away as the bleachers get filled with students. Hades and Fairy Godmother approach them, "There was a problem crossing." Hades starts, "A barrier, thin as air was surrounding the Isle. We don't know where it came from but we got it down." 

Ben nods while Mal slumps back on the bench, after all, she was wearing her jersey. Why change?

She could see the scouts sitting on the front, there were from Midtown Tech in New York, Auradon University, Fairy Academy in Auroria, Sherwood College in Sherwood and a lot more. She turns her head to Jay, already strapping on his helmet. 

"Whatever happens, we get to do our best. This is our last game in Auradon Prep and there's a possibility that while all of us are in Auradon Uni, we're going to be kicking Jay's ass when he joins Sherwood." She starts, laughing at Jay who only shoves Mal. 

Then she stares at Evie, beckoning her and the others in the huddle, "This is the last game where Audrey cheers for us since the bitch is going to probably join Fairy Academy." She jabs, receiving a scoff in return, "But it doesn't matter. Because right now, it's us. It's the prissy pink princesses and the Isle kids." 

She then turns to her best friends, "Losing is never an option because we're rotten," Evie, Jay and Carlos only grin, "To the core." 

Then they went off, going in to their position as the game starts. 

It had been tough because the Isle Pirates played rough, but not a problem since Mal was there. 

They start off slow, only having a point in the final minutes of the first quarter when Ben goes under a defender's legs, sliding easily as he passed the ball to Jay. 

Teeths were chattering, nails were bitten and sweat trickled down the team's faces as they passed the ball from one side to the other. Uma sweats nervously as Anthony Tremaine and Zevon run towards her. They launch the ball towards her and she sighs as she blocks it, just in time for Chad to get the ball and pass it to an awaiting Jay. 

The monitors and lights flicker for a while and Uma furrows her eyebrows. That's weird, didn't Zevon and Anthony just run towards her? Still, despite the confusion, she blocks them again and passes it to an again awaiting Jay who was just as confused as she is. 

The game ends with them winning. Despite the confusion, they did it. 

Mal was brought up by the team as the crowd chants MVP over and over. Evie grins proudly, clapping her hands and chanting along as they lowered Mal down. 

The awarding was done and it was time for the Scouts to well, scout the players they want to offer their scholarships with. Jay was the first they went to and he immediately takes it, he really is going to Sherwood. 

Mal sits down, watching as even Evie get envelopes upon envelopes of scholarships and she doesn't even play Tourney. God, that girl is unbelievable. "Mal Moors?" 

That ought to snap her out of her trance. "We're the scouts from Sherwood College and we just wanted to give you this." The man winks, simply handing her an envelope. And soon enough, the same schools that were just talking to Evie handed her the same envelopes. 

"Oh my goblins." She mutters to herself, staring at every school that wants her. "Looks like Bertha has a lot of offers." Evie teases, looking at Mal's pile as she held on to hers. The fairy scoffs, "You're one to talk. You literally cheered for me like everyone else and you got a scholarship."

"It's mostly for fashion and academics." Evie shrugs, as if it isn't a big fucking deal. "I'm proud of you, E. Really. Prouder than the proudest of the proud."

Evie felt her heart burst. 


	13. XIII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> listen to ben rector’s song “when i’m with you.” lmao that’s all.

Peace was never an option.

That was Mal's motto all throughout her life in the Isle. The only peace she ever gets and will ever receive is with her gang.

Peace was never an option.

Most especially to Maleficent as she haunts Mal with dreams. No, nightmares.

"You don't get to kill them without killng me first." She hisses as Maleficent stalks around her, despite being outnumbered, Maleficent alone frightens her. Most especially when she's at her prime.

The Evil Fairy then turns to a dragon and Mal was stuck. She couldn't do anything as her mother burns her friends alive.

"That would be too easy, dear." She cackles, loud enough that it wakes her up. Loud enough that she gasps for air as she clutches her chest while sweat drips down from her neck down her body.

Evie stares at her, the same expression on her face. "Are you okay?" Despite everything Mal dreamt about, despite the desperate pants of air she took, the moment she saw Evie having the same blank reaction as her, she didn't care.

"M, I dreamt about her." Evie whimpers as Mal takes her, rubbing her back with soothing circles as she sniffled, "You too?" She asks, her voice above a whisper as Mal nods. "Yeah. It's weird. It's been so long since that happened."

Not long after that, a knock came on their door with the other VK's on the other side. "Did you have it too?" Carlos asks, a little horrified as the sequence of his mom skinning each of his friends alive repeated on and on inside his mind. "Yeah. You guys want to crash here?"

She only recieved nods as Evie scoots over to the edge of the bed, Mal just beside her as Uma slides in with Carlos. Harry was on the couch, Jay on the recliner and Gil on the other recliner.

They all stare at the ceiling blankly, no one making a sound, not even a slight clearing of the throat.

"You guys want to talk about it?" Jay asks as he shifts his gaze from the ceiling to his friends, all staring back at him. "My mom tried to burn you guys." Mal chuckles dryly, Gil hums, "What did we smell like?"

Okay, random question but it left Mal smirking as she looks down on Evie who, in return, was raising an eyebrow at her expectantly, "It smelt like fried octopus."

"Low blow." Uma hisses with a shove, making Mal and Evie fall on the floor in a laughing mess. They stayed like that, Mal above Evie, unmoving as they listened to their friends complain about their parents.

"Me dad decapitated ye one by one." Harry laughs, "Really? Did we finally see how tiny Jay's brain is?" Carlos jokes as the star Tourney player throws a random can at him, hitting him right in the balls.

"Laugh all you want but it was no problem for you to fit inside a damn genie bottle because you're so small, jackass." Jay retorts, leaving Mal to raise her head and actually stand up, pulling Evie on her feet as well.

"How about you, Eves, what did you dream of?" Gil asks as he sits upwards, "Well, for starters, you all are stupid enough to eat the apple my mom gave you." She replies, a smile tugging on her lips as her friends glare at her. "First of all, I wouldn't accept anything from your mom even if the damn FDA tested it."

"Uma, you were the first to eat." Evie retorts, making the girl groan as they laughed. "So, how about your mom?"

"Well, my mom killed us by strangling us with her slimy tentacles until our heads exploded." Uma shrugs as they nod, as if it's not a big deal because yeah, it's no big deal.

"My dad shot you guys."

"Please, my mom skinned us alive."

"Anyways, you guys got plans for prom?"

They went on and on, acting like nothing happened, painting smiles on their faces as they face the day ahead of them.

"You guys okay?" Was the first question Lonnie asks when the VKs enter their History of Auradon class, all sporting some bags under their eyes and all with at least on their third or fourth cup of coffee.

"Yeah, we kinda didn't sleep." Carlos replies, visibly vibrating as they all tuned in to the lesson. Or, tried to until it was interrupted by an announcement by King Adam himself.

"Good Morning, dear students. It's your former King Adam." He announces formally, the kids begin to chortle when Hades begins cursing in the background, telling him to fuck off and start announcing.

"Anyways, before the graduation of our Seniors next week, we will be doing our yearly prom. Here are just a few guidelines regarding promposals. We know how last year went." He scoffs as everyone turned to Carlos who flushed in embarassment. Why, you ask?

Because he trained dogs and made it ask Jane to go out with him. The problem with that? Dogs just went missing and they had to explain it to the owners.

"No stealing is allowed, magic is minimized and no, you aren't allowed to rearrange the stars, Aziz. Asking help from the whole school is okay and no one is allowed to shift into a dragon, yes Mal, we're talking about you."

Mal furrows her eyebrows as she sits up, "You told them?" She hisses towards her friends. Last time she knew, their parents had no fucking idea that her and Evie were 'together'.

"It wasn't me!" Chad quickly denies as he scrolls on his laptop, already searching for corsages as Adam goes on and on about the precautions. She then turns to Evie, silently doodling on her notebook.

Evie didn't even realize that Mal was staring at her, all she knew was that she's starting to imagine things. Will Mal ask her out to prom? Will she even have a date? If Mal does ask her would it be a date? God, there's so many questions running in her mind that she has no idea on what to think about first.

While she overthinks, Mal sits there, amused that Evie wasn't paying attention like she always does whenever there's an announcement. She thinks it's cute that the girl pouts whenever she'd shade something and it won't come off as solid. She thinks it's cute that she holds the very tip of her pen instead of the middle. She just finds Evie cute in all general ways possible.

And it fucking confuses her sometimes because one day, Evie's staring at her like she's the cutest piece of shit in the world then the next day, she looks at her like she's the most annoying piece of shit.

But one thing doesn't confuse her right now. It's the fact that she's going to ask Evie out and it's going to be the best one ever. And it doesn't matter if she actually fail her finals for History of Auradon because right now, she's come up with the best idea ever.

When class finished, Mal immediately goes off to her Chemistry class with Ben, Carlos and Harry, pulling them into hushed whispers once Evie was out of view.

And look, not even a damn hour from the announcement and girls were already receiving promposals. Maybe Evie was a little jealous.

"Move your fucking asses!" They all stop, hearing Uma's voice as she rode the back of a lawnmower dressed as a pirate ship, "Oh dear." Jay whistles out, hiding his laugh while Audrey nearly dies from embarrassment.

Evie just laughs as Uma hops off, "Audrey Rose Mountbatten, the first time I saw you, arrrgh knew we were meant to b- and Jesus Christ, just, Audrey, would you go out to prom with me?" She asks, giving up on reading the little rhyme Harry wrote as she dropped the sign, revealing a pink corsage underneath.

And okay, now, Evie was still a little jealous because first of all, she loved Uma dearly but Mal can do better than that and two, it's not like she's going to be the last one to be asked.

Yes, Evie spoke too soon because the moment she and Lonnie got inside their own Chemistry class, Chad was there, waiting for her with a sign. There were also Tourney balls underneath him, each with a letter to spell out the word 'Prom?'

"Must you guys have corny signs?" She mutters to herself as she read what the ones on Chad says. "Looks like I found the balls to ask you."

And what's worse is that not only girls were being asked, even boys. Yeah, Harry was the first one to have himself asked.

They were all at the quad, silently judging the other promposals the next day while eating when they all heard this ridiculous trumpet. Mal looks around and judging by their missing member, she knew exactly what was about to happen.

She doesn't regret pausing on eating her sandwich because the moment she saw Ben riding a skateboard while the band follows him, her friends began snorting out whatever they ate. "Thank god you broke up with him." She could hear Evie mutter as she wipes her mouth.

"I wouldn't mind if I'd walk off the plank, just go to prom with me and I can give you everything you lack." Ben's sign read as he approaches Harry. The look on the pirate's face can't be read but the looks on their friends faces are readable.

"God, even I can pull off a better idea than that." Mal scoffs before leaving a baffled Evie behind.

The next day was Jay. They were all busily running away from Coach Jenkins when the lights shut off in the gym. Then when it opened, the score board was spelling out 'Prom?' with Gil in front, a box of chicken tenders and chocolates on his arms. Jay doesn't even hesitate. God, if someone asks you with a box of food you say yes.

The last one was Carlos. And okay, it wasn't that big of a deal but it was cute. It was their free period when Dude came to them. Carlos furrows his eyebrows, a bit weird because last time he checked, Dude was wearing the small Tourney jersey Evie made for him.

"Did you guys change hi- oh man. Jane." Carlos stops once he reads the back of the shirt his dog was wearing. It was a simple 'will you go to prom with me?' and somehow, it was the cutest thing.

Evie just frowns, not even hiding the fact that she is jealous that she does want a promposal just as much as every girl in the school. Mal notices it, Evie was always looking in the distance and has been distant herself since promposal week started.

"Are you okay, E?" She asks finally when they got inside their dorm, the enchantress just huffs, "Just peachy." She retorts, glaring a little at the fairy as she begins on changing her clothes, not even caring if Mal saw everything.

The fairy blushes, turning around and waited until Evie was done. Damn, she really must be annoyed by Mal at this point, huh?

"Night, M." She whispers, closing her eyes as she begins to drift off. Mal nods, about to get beside her when Evie opens an eye and glares at her. "You sleep on the couch. I'm not in the mood to share the bed."

"Damn, okay."

"Evie, yer lookin' a little angry." Harry chirps early in the morning inside their Physics class. The blue haired princess glares at him, huffing more and more in annoyance.

Harry tries to hide his smirk, clearly, she's annoyed that little Mally hasn't asked her yet. I mean, it's so fucking obvious.

"I 'eard Mal's wantin' to go solo for prom." He adds and Evie just broke. She tears her eyes away from the board and stares at him, "What? You mean, she's not going with her fucking girlfriend that's clearly asking for her to ask her out?"

Harry just shrugs.

Evie doesn't see Mal for the rest of the day and she's so fucking furious. God, the audacity of that little shit. But still, even if Mal was a little shit she's desperate for a promposal so every time her phone rings she stares at it. She doesn't even care if Mal asks her through text by this point.

**from: octopus**

**_hey. would u mind going to the tourney field rn? there's been word that there's a fireworks show_.**

She sighs, yet, she wears her jacket and heads outside.

*

That's when she stops in her tracks because there were no lights. Instead, there were only a path of candles and blue rose petals across the floor along with a little note.

_**morell, follow the light. yes, you're about to die.** _

She rolls her eyes yet smiles nonetheless, picking up the note and following the trail of candles. It was sure a long walk and a long trail but it ended right on the middle of the Tourney field.

And instead of petals, a bouquet waited for her. She grins, picking it up eagerly and waiting for Mal to like pop out but she wasn't there. And look, Uma didn't lie when she said there was a fireworks show because next thing she knew, a launch was heard in the distance.

Blue, red and yellow littered the skies and she watched with awe. The skies were literally painted with color and it brings her heart to joy because it was _her_ colors.

"I go a little crazy sometimes, can you believe it?" It was faint when the explosion of colors were heard but she hears it, the soft angelic voice of a literal dragon. Her dragon. "Yeah, I swear I'm fine, that I'm alright when I'm barely breathing."

She turns around and she finds herself meeting Mal's eyes as she smiled, wider than she could ever imagine. "Thought I could find my way back home, but I get lost alone."

"But when I'm with you, I'm no longer wandering and when I'm with you, I swear I can breathe." She sings and Evie swore her heart literally melted because she knew this song. It was sitting in Mal's desk for the last few days but she didn't mind it.

"When I'm with you, I know who I am and who I wanna be." And Mal knows that's true because she only ever wanted to become good because it made Evie happy. And it made her happy that Evie's happy.

"I'm not trying to be dramatic, no, most times I'm pretty normal."

Evie wanted to scoff at that. Mal was far from normal and she loves it. She loves her. No matter how extra this bitch is. She loves her.

"When I'm with you, I know who I am and who I wanna be." Mal sings, finally approaching her with her hands inside her pockets. About to ask her the question.

"Mal, what t-" Evie begins but was quickly cut off with Mal turning her around, she expected another round of fireworks but she was met with the dark windows of Auradon Prep slowly turning on.

It starts with the dormitories, then the science hall, the gym and she didn't get it until it happens. They weren't just opening lights.

Mal finally asks her. The lights turning into the word 'Prom?'

"So, what do you say, E? Would you want to be my date?" She asks, "And no, before you ask. I'm not asking you as a friend." Mal winks.

"God, you dumbass, yes!" For all she knew, waiting for her promposal turned out to be the best.


	14. XIV

"Mal, stop moving!" Jay huffs as he tried fixing her hair, the fairy groans, "Since when did you become a hairdresser?" She retorts, finally giving up on fighting him as she slumps down the chair inside his dorm room. "Since everyone praised him for keeping his hair fluffy."

The answer Carlos supplied didn't help the situation, like, at all. Mal just glared at him, yet again, she really can't do anything about it when Jay brought out the hair curler. She was wearing a white button up underneath her black suit jacket.

"I can't believe you got us to open up lights for her." Jay chuckles as he spins Mal around, making her face him as he squats down to get on her level, "You might be far from asking Evie to marry you but treat her right. Just how she treats you right. She's our baby, well, sometimes because we all know Carlos is the real baby here."

"Hey!" Carlos protests, Jay didn't pay him any attention, "Just, please, take care of her." He says with a final smile before catching up to Carlos, both about to go pick up their dates. Mal gulps.

All this time, she knew she was in love with Evie. So fucking much that it pisses her off sometimes because it's Evie. It's the same girl she hated the living hell out of because she wasn't invited to her birthday party.

It pisses her off how much Evie made her go soft and sappy. God, but despite every single thing to hate her just makes Mal love her more and more each day.

And Jay telling her to take care of the blue haired princess? Please, as if she doesn't plan on doing that all her life.   
  
  


"Wow, you're, woah." Ben gasped in delight, unable to bring out any words as he sees Evie get out of her dorm room, wearing a dress that hugged all her curves perfectly. She was the epitome of gorgeous, the literal 'Fairest of Them All.'

Evie blushes a little, flustered at the reactions her friends made. "I'd be straight for ya." Harry jokes while Gil nods beside him, Jay was just staring along with Ben.

"Would appreciate it if you guys stop staring at my girlfriend." And there the dragon came, just in time to rescue her princess. To say that Mal wasn't awestruck by her quote-unquote 'girlfriend' is a lie. She nearly tripped on the way when she saw her from the corner.

"Flowers for the lady and shoves for the men who are thirsty." She smirks, shoving the boys out of her way just to get to Evie.

Evie felt her heart race at the sight of Mal. It was rare for Mal to even think of dressing up but- wow. Mal was here, wearing a god forsaken suit just because she didn't want to look stupid. Just because she didn't want to disappoint Evie and ruin her night.

"Did you actually wear a suit? Mal Bertha, wearing a suit?" Evie asks incredulously as the fae walks her to the carriage, she shrugs, "Well, I don't want to disappoint you. Besides, I'd rather dance with you wearing this than worrying if I stepped on my skirt."

"Well, you could say that I'm very surprised." The blue haired princess replies, stepping in on the carriage as Mal helps her, careful enough so she wouldn't ruin her dress.

They were silent and it wasn't any damn near to awkwardness. They were at peace. They were safe from harm's way and they were alright. God, the Villain Kids, they were, well, they were alright.

They weren't living off of scraps anymore, they weren't living off of trash and excess hand me downs. For once, they were the ones who scrap things, who throw out things they couldn't use anymore and they were the ones with excess hand me downs.

They didn't have to fight anymore. They didn't have to cower in fear at the sight of their parents because this time, they were the ones towering over them. They were the ones that have their dreams shattered knowing their children aren't evil, knowing that their children achieved their dreams by being them. By being _good_.

They can't hurt them anymore. They can't haunt them in nightmares, they can't touch them, they can't do anything about it. And Mal feels proud that she's somehow a reason to why that ever happened. 

Sometimes she wonders if her friends think about how much they've done. Think about how much they've been through.

She closes her eyes and leans on Evie's shoulder, letting her watch the castles in peace as she thinks. As she reminisce.

She remembers how she would always cross paths with Gil in the marketplace, alone and wandering, his eyes blank as he stares at the posters Auradon guards would post once in a while. Gil was always a dreamer, always wandering around, dreaming of finding far away places.

Gaston never liked that. Never liked how Gil would always stray away from him or their family. But right now, he's here, in Auradon, already travelled halfway around it the moment he stepped foot on Auradon.

She remembers how much of a maniac Harry was back on the Isle, how whenever they would cross paths, he'd go out of his way to terrorize her. Sometimes he even dares to try and flirt with her.

But right now, he's content. He'a found his peace and found the one person that keeps him sane. The one person that taught him who he really is. That he isn't a dude with a weird obssession for a hook.

Then there's Uma who's not a 'Sea-Witch' on the Isle but rather a 'Sea-Bitch.' Someone you wouldn't want to cross paths with because you'll be sure to find yourself in a life or death situation. After all, you can't trust a pirate. Especially their captain.

But here she was, found an Auradon girl that trusted her, that she trusted. She's found friends that love her and want to be with her because this time, she doesn't put you in the life or death situation, she saves you from it.

Don't even get her started on Carlos. She remembers how much the boy was such a slave, a follower who doesn't stand up for himself. A defenseless young boy that always needed someone to look after him but never got it until he met Mal.

But now, he's on his own, happy. He isn't tied to some sort of leash now, following his own rules. And as much as it hurts to say this, he doesn't need Jay to protect him from thieves anymore, he doesn't need Evie feeding him when his mom couldn't and he doesn't need Mal glaring at every person that even dared to look at him. He's on his own.

God, even Jay changed. The same guy with sticky fingers and a charm that could easily come second to Evie's as he steals not just your heart but also everything you own. The same guy who would beat you up for touching him.

He's now a team player, an honest one at that. The fact that he's learned to work with others and is actually the one who made them realize that they're stronger together is a big development.

Then she stares at Evie, her eyes glassy as she stares at the castle now decorated with lights and streamers, just like the ones in the fairytales. Just like the one she always dreamed of.

"Hey, you ready?" Mal asks as they came to a halt, the princess nods, "You know, four years ago, if you told me that I'd be in Auradon with you guys and attending a dance, I'd probably laugh at your face and tell you you're crazy." Evie breathes out as Mal shrugs, "If you tell me four years ago that I'd be in Auradon, I would've decked you."

Evie laughs, her hair falling back a little as she tipped her head backwards. Mal just smiles at her as she holds her close, holds her like she'd be losing her so soon that she didn't want to let go.

They spotted their table where Ben already was, stuffing his face with food as Harry danced with his captain and best friend. "Alone?" Mal chuckles, sitting down herself while Evie danced with Audrey and Jane.

"Yeah. Can you believe that we're graduating just a day after this? I can hardly believe that we just finished finals." He says disbelievingly as Mal goes rigid, "Hey, you okay?" Immediately noticing her, he asks, Mal shakes her head, "I'm fine. I'm good. Decided what college you want to go to?"

Ben nods, "Your speech on our championship is bullshit. We're all leaving. I think I'm going to Sherwood, you know? Give up my title for a while so I could balance everything." He answers as Mal hums, "How about you?"

"I think I'm going to Fairy Academy in Auroria, it's nearer to my dad." She answers, finally talking to someone about this. The king sighs, "Have you told Evie?"

"Not yet. I'm about to, though." She breathes out as she stands up, going towards her date.

"Mind if I steal her for a moment?" Evie hears from behind her as a hand rests on her hips, Audrey smirks, nodding as she pulled Jane and now, Lonnie, with her. Evie turns, facing Mal who already took her hand.

"See? I told you teaching me how to dance is worth it." Mal winks before twirling the girl and catching her right back, Evie scoffs, "Please, the first two times you crushed my foot."

"I was just talking to Ben." Mal starts, now slowing down as they swayed in time with the music, Evie hums, "We were talking about college and, well, he's going to Sherwood." She adds, Evie arches a perfect eyebrow at her, "Isn't he required to go to Auradon Uni because he's king?"

"Exactly. He's stepping down for a while until he finishes college." Mal answers, the enchantress nods, "How about you, E? Have you decided?" She asks, hoping that she hasn't, or at least not yet.

"Nope." She replied, popping the 'P' as Mal twirled her once more, "How about you?"

"Fairy Academy." There were no hesitations and Mal felt stupid by mentioning it because Evie stops to look at her. Stops to stare at her and she can't read what the hell is going on in Evie's eyes.

Honestly? Evie knew she would accept that. Evie knew that somehow, she had to let Mal go to let her follow her dreams but it can't stop her from hurting. Because she couldn't imagine a life without Mal back then and that still doesn't change until now. She needs her, just as much as she needed her the first time they got in trouble.

"You know, what? That's great. Mal, you weren't taught by your mom and this is your chance to see your potential as a fairy. I'm so proud of you." She smiles, pulling Mal into a hug even if it kills her. Even if it hurts.

Because letting go of the person you love the most (next to yourself) is the hardest thing to ever do. Even in a land of happily ever afters.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"Oh come on! Just squeeze!" Hades yells from behind the camera as the Villain Kids tried to fit into the frame. Jay was on the floor, squatting down with Carlos putting his head above his head, then Evie, then Mal. The three pirates were just a chaotic mess in the background with Gil carrying both Harry and Uma on his back.

They did some serious shots but also doing wacky ones when the Auradon Kids arrived, all sporting smiles except for Chad who was now a sobbing mess on the corner.

"I can't believe we're leaving Auradon Prep." Evie whispers the moment they stopped in front of its doors, they've had so many memories here. So many late night stacks, midnight shenanigans, movie nights.

They all found love here. They got hurt here. Three years was enough for them to make enough memories that it's hard for them to leave this place.

They found out who they were here. Found out what they want to be, not what their parents want them to be.

Who knew Harry would be a mathematician, that Gil would be the best in their Home Ec? Or how Uma would like swimming not because she was running away from her mom but for fun.

How Carlos found Dude and how he knew he wanted to be a Veterinarian when his mom literally kill dogs, how Jay wants to be a team player when all his life he was taught selfisness.

How Mal found herself joining the art club and instead of making plots to rule Auradon with evil, she made plans to make her friends happy. All her life she was taught with evil but here she is, in love, so in love with her best friend.

And how Evie, sweet darling Evie who was taught all her life that she was nothing more but a trophy, nothing but a girl who's only job is to be pretty is the one that turned out to be the most intelligent mind in the whole of their batch. Their validictorian.

"Ready?" Evie asks as they proceed their queue, "Ready."

The moment they sat down, they knew it was soon to be over for them and this might be the last time they get to step foot here in years. The Tourney Field was filled with students, people Mal knew, people she loathed, people she admired.

The clapping was inevitable. Most especially when it's their friends up on the stage, receiving their awards.

They all had one, whether it was most improved or to the best Tourney player. They all had one and they were all proud of themselves.

"May we please call on stage, our valedictorian, Miss Genevieve Morell Queen." Fairy Godmother smiles as Evie stalks up the stairs, her hair matching the graduation gown they wore.

"Good Afternoon, to everyone. To our families, our teachers and staff, to my friends and to the senior batch of 2020 here in Auradon Prep." She starts, reading the little paper she had been writing on for the past few days.

"First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who had a big part on why I'm standing here today. To the teachers that believed in me, the ones who taught me and knew that I have potential. Thank you, everyone."

"To Fairy Godmother who taught not just me, but all the VKs goodness. It didn't show at first but it happened. And none of us could be more thankful for having you as our mentor. To Belle and Adam who protected us from the media and accepted us lovingly as if we were their children, thank you so so much."

"To Ben, the literal reason why we're here. At first I had my doubts about you, doubts that you'll leave us to handle everything else but you never did. You guided us through every nook and cranny, through ever light and dark paths we had to go through. Ben, the VKs can't thank you enough for this opportunity. Thank you."

Everyone turned to Ben who had a few tears dropping from his eyes, catching the small kiss Evie blew as everyone clapped for him. Honestly, he's the biggest reason why they were even here.

"And I know most of you would like to end this but I literally have at least four more paragraphs so just sit it through." Evie laughs, reading her paper while everyone chuckles at her, Mal especially, finding herself extremely proud of Evie for being this confident.

"Other than Ben, I'd like to thank each of my friends who've helped me so much here in Auradon. Gil, we haven't done much, honestly. We weren't friends the first time and yet, you were one of the souls who changed my life by keeping me constantly awake during finals week, without your recipes, I think most of us would have fallen asleep the moment we open our books."

"Chad, I still remember the first time I met you. I'd like to thank you for two things, one is thank you for making me realize that I am indeed gay and the second one is for teaching me how someone could change no matter how they grew up. Thank you for all the stupid advice you gave me but still worked nonetheless."

"Lonnie, you're one of the first few people to ever see any talent in me. You were the first girl I styled and the second girl that accepted me and the VKs here in Auradon. Thank you for constantly believing in me, day by day, telling me that I can push through everything because I'm one of the most badass people you've ever met. Thank you for inspiring me, Lon."

"Jane, you were a literal sweetheart the moment I first saw you. I remember how you walked past us, afraid that we might do something. Thank you so much for also constantly believing in me, giving me hope and teaching me how to be a better person. You're literally one of the most beautiful souls out there and I hope you know that because you're the one who made me realize that I am."

"Harry, thank you so much for letting me borrow your Woodsmen and Pirates notes, for making me constantly laugh and for teaching me things I didn't expect you to even know. Thank you, just for being there when I need someone to talk to other than Mal."

"Uma, you're the most stupid person I know and yet here I am thanking you. You might not be the best person to ask advice from, to ask notes from or to just talk to in general but that was before you came here. You've changed so much and I'm beyond proud of you. Thank you for being there for me, protecting and watching my back like I was part of your crew."

"Audrey, while your girlfriend might be the most stupid person here, you are the complete opposite. You're a very smart girl and I will forever cherish the little moments we have together. Thank you for constantly reminding me of who I am and not who I was supposed to be. We might've started in not so good terms but we've grown into each other and I am beyond thankful that I get to call you one of my best friends."

Then she stopped, pausing for a while to take a look at her friends, all sharing the same look of pride and joy as they clapped for her. Harry even made a show of bowing when he was mentioned. Then, she looked at the three people who meant the most to her.

Her family. Her home. Her safe place and her rocks.

"Jay, I remember first seeing you on an alleyway, stealing something from my mother as she brought me to the marketplace. I remember how you looked at me, signalling me to keep quiet while you dug down her bag, successfully taking a coin enough for you to buy something to eat. Then I remember, seeing you at Dragon Hall, standing by Mal's side as you two dominated the halls." 

Jay smiles, nodding along to the story and smirking at the mention of him and Mal dominating Dragon Hall. Evie rolls her eyes at him.

"Then the next time I saw you, it was the time we searched for the Dragon's Eye, you were this cocky fourteen year old that annoyed the living hell out of me but you grew on me. You became my big brother that protected me from the nasty place that is the Isle. And here in Auradon, you still did. You protected me so much that it would be weird without you throwing fists at anyone again."

"I can't thank you enough for being my bigger brother, for being my knight in rusting armor because honestly, I don't think you can keep an armor shiny but that doesn't matter. Thank you for being the best person I could always run to whenever someone said something about me. And as much as you hate sappy words, I love you, Jay."

He can deny it all he want but tears were clouding his vision as he stared at his small princess, the same girl he was supposed to be annoyed with because Mal was annoyed with her the first time. He takes her thanks in pride as she moves her gaze to the small boy beside her.

"Carlos, while I remember seeing Jay the first time when he stole something from my mom, I remember seeing you when I looked out of a window and you were there, cleaning your mom's car, barely five years old. And I asked you if you were hungry so I threw a sandwich at you even if it was the first meal I had in three days."

Carlos nods up at her, a few tears already making their way down to his cheeks. Evie was always his best friend.

"You were the first friend I had after this girl's mom banished me to a castle for years because she wasn't invited to my sixth birthday party." She snickers, shooting a pointed glare at Mal who only glared back at her, playfully with a scowl painted on her face.

"Then, again, because this girl hated me so much, I became her target for this project we had and I was trapped inside your mom's fur closet filled to the brim with bear traps. I wouldn't have survived without you helping me, Los. I remember giving you a comforter and then helping you create this machine that resulted to us actually being friends with the two idiots here."

"Thank you, Carlos, for being my first friend ever. For being my best friend for years and for all the things you've done for me. Thank you for being someone I could talk to whenever I feel down about all the school works we are doing. Thank you for being my temporary prince while we were in the Isle. Like Jay, I love you, a lot, Los."

Everyone was literally vibrating in anticipation as she stared at Mal. Mal who always had a glare and scowl waiting for everyone else except Evie. Mal, daughter of Maleficent, the only one who would jump in front of a grenade for Evie.

Mal stared up at her, waited for her to talk and offering her a weak smile, giving her a little thumbs up.

"And to the one person who hated me for at least a quarter of her life." Evie begins, not even looking at her paper anymore, "Mal." She breathes out, as if she was breathless the whole time she stared at Mal.

"I remember you, peeking from your balcony and me just about this near into smacking my mom for not inviting you." She jokes, putting her index finger and thumb out, the two fingers nearly touching. Mal laughs.

"I remember this girl that hated me that the first time I was out of our castle, she trapped me inside Cruella De Vil's closet full of bear traps and fur. I hated you, the same way you hated me because I did nothing to hurt you and yet here you are, doing everything you could to get me out of your way. You were so petty."

"But then after we made the machine, we had to find your mom's scepter and we did. It was funny, honestly, one minute you were so annoyed by the mere sound of my footsteps and the next, you were telling me how strong I was, how I could go past every trial Maleficent has done."

"And I did. And I thought maybe you weren't that bad. You proved that when you nearly took a sleeping curse just to save me. I was ready to blame myself if you had died but you didn't. And then you asked me to join your little gang and I did. I thought that was the best decision I ever made."

"In some way, it was. But then you and I got closer, you and I became Mal and Evie, Evie and Mal, we became a package deal that no one else could ever separate. The best decision I ever made was probably saying yes to being your girlfriend because you made me the happiest person in Auradon."

"I can't thank you enough, M. I can't thank you enough for every time you made me laugh, you made me feel empowered, every time you made me feel like I am the prettiest in the world. I can't thank you enough for protecting me, coming to my aid whenever I need you. Thank you for being the best person I could ever need."

"Thank you for being my best friend, my girlfriend, my prince, my dragon, my knight, my everything. Thank you for every single thing, Mal. From the bottom of my rotten heart, I love you."

The crowd began cooing at them and Mal, god, Mal was there, actually _crying_ her eyes out as she cursed Evie. But that didn't stop her from cupping her hands from her mouth and yelling back an 'I love you too!'

Mal didn't know what came after her when she said that but it made her heart light. It made her happy. And so did Evie. Telling everyone she loved her made her feel like they were actually together.

"Auradon Prep has been a home to many, an escape from the world, a place where we found ourselves. It sucks that it's so seen but now that we have to leave, let us all remember how this place has changed not just a life, but the lives of many."

"Auradon has turned us to people who we want to be, people who want to start a new legacy. This is the moment we get to start us, slowly but surely. To the batch of 2020, we can do this because we're rotten," Evie smirks, shooting Mal a look while the dragon sat there with pride in her eyes, "To the core!"

"So, you're really leaving, huh?" Carlos asks as Mal puts her last bag inside her father's car, they were all there, outside the starter castle and about to say goodbye to the fairy. Audrey wasn't going yet, neither is Uma or Ben and Jay. 

"I guess." She shrugs, hands inside her pockets as Chad approaches her, "Think you're going to appreciate this." He whispers as he pulls her in for a hug, handing her a small woodcarving of them, the twelve of them. "You made this?" 

"Well, Jay and Carlos' 3D printer helped a lot." He winks playfully before stepping back, letting Lonnie just hug her, "I don't have anything to give you but here's an advice, don't forget us." 

Mal nods, letting her go as she moved on with Jane, "Thank you for like, everything, Mal." The girl whispers as Mal nods, "Hey, it's nothing. I should thank you."

"So, is this really goodbye?" Ben asks as he steps forward, Mal scoffs, "Please, I went on the Isle and I couldn't even get rid of you." She jokes, Ben just shakes his head before hugging her, placing a photo of them discreetly inside her pocket. 

She then turns to Audrey who only rolls her eyes, "Please, I'll be seeing you in a week." She answers, yet, still hugging Mal before shoving her towards Gil. 

"Here, take them for the road." He smiles, sadly, though, as he hands her a bag of cupcakes, she smiles back, "I'll miss you." 

"Are there any goodbyes for me?" Harry asks as he spins Mal around, placing a small pocketwatch inside her pocket as he hugs her, "You're already hugging me and you ask me if I'm saying goodbye?" She chuckles, Harry just hums, "Hey, Hook? Thanks, for all your sappy love advice." She mutters, removing herself from him as she moved to Uma. 

"Hey, Shrimpy." She mutters, taking a deep breath as Uma smiles at her, "Hey, Dragon Breath." She says back, handing her a shell, similar to hers, "Just remember this, if you need anything, hold the shell and think of me, I'd drive my ass to get to you." She smiles before handing her to Jay. 

"Guess this is goodbye, huh?" He says, softly, as he looks at Mal with those brown eyes that were used to shooting daggers. She smirks, "Are you going soft on me, Jay?" She teases, yet, the tension was there. The sadness was hanging on the air. 

"Yeah. It's- it's the first time I don't have a feisty smaller person by my side." He answers, "Ben's with you." She jokes, earning a little laugh from Jay, "Please, he's a literal Golden Retreiver." 

"Look, just, take this." He smiles, taking his beanie off of his head and handing it to her, "Keeps you from the cold." He winks before pushing Carlos to the front and center. 

"Hey, Mal." He greets, yet not with any happiness or whatsoever, he was frowning, his voice was shaky. Just like in the Isle. "Hey, Los." She chuckles, pulling him in for a hug until he relaxes. It took a while, but he did. 

"I'll miss you, so much." He cries, nuzzling his head on her neck as she soothes him by stroking his hair until he calmed, "I know, I will too. It's hard to get rid of you." She jokes as Carlos removes himself from her. 

"You can have my jacket. I already placed it inside the car earlier. Like Jay said, it keeps you from the cold." He smiles, "Are you assuming it's cold at Auroria?" Audrey asks, a little shocked, "Well, yeah."

That's when they realized who was next. They all watched awkwardly as Mal and Evie stand a step away from each other. "We're gonna give you guys some space." Ben awkwardly says, clearing his throat as he pulls the others inside. 

Evie looks at them, muttering a small thank you to them as Mal watches her, "Hey." She breathes out, Evie gulps, "Hey."

"I can't do this. God, I had a speech prepared." Mal mumbles as she starts breaking down, tears rolling down her eyes as Evie pulls her in for a hug, just as emotional as Mal. "I just can't say goodbye to you, you know?" 

"All this time we're conquering everything side by side but now, I can't lose you, E." Mal sighs as Evie stares up at her, no words forming, just silence. Complete and utter silence. 

"I guess this is where this whole charade ends, huh?" It was quiet, Evie didn't even expect to have those words coming out of her mouth. "Does it have to end?" Mal asks, "M, we're going to be separated, I-I think it's for the best."

"So this is goodbye." Mal mumbles, tearing herself away from Evie, "Yeah." She nods, wiping the tears away. 

That's when Mal knew she'd do something absolutely stupid. But nothing ever stopped her from doing that. 

She moved forward, taking Evie's hands as she kissed her, desperate, clinging on to her, not wanting to ever let her go. 

Evie kissed her just as fierce as she did, pulling her closer by the collar of her shirt. 

"Check your email when you can. I gotta go, E." Mal whispers against Evie's lips, the blue haired girl nods, kissing her again before letting her go. "I love you." She mumbles, Mal nods, "I love you too."

And then she rode the car, leaving Evie alone. 

Mal was gone. 

Evie felt empty. 

She left her and she didn't even get to say how much she loved her. 


	15. XV

The moment the car wasn't in her line of sight anymore, she does it. She breaks down. She cries her heart out, regretting the fact that she hasn't told her. That Mal didn't even know before she left.

It didn't even bother her when it started to rain. When the water mixed with her tears began soaking her face.

She was crying so much she didn't even realize that Carlos had dragged her back inside and draped a towel around her. "What am I going to do now, guys?" She asks, her voice hoarse and trembling.

No one knew how to answer her. No one knew how to tell her to move on or that Mal was just a phone call away. Really, no one can tell her when she's at this state of mind.

They could only bring her some conforming silence and presence as she stares at a picture on the wall. As she stares at their picture on the wall.

She could easily follow her but she can't. They're done. Whatever they had in between their fake relationship was over. They said their "I love you's" but somehow it wasn't right.

Then she remembers what the fairy had told her before she left. Check her email. Check her email. Check her email.

She quickly takes out her phone, not even caring if weirded out looks were sent in her way. She scans over the useless ones until she came across Mal's. She hesitates on opening it but she did.

_hey, e, it's mal._

_there's really no other way of telling this. actually, there is but i'm too much of a coward to do it._

_so i'm telling you here, because, hey, no one opens their emails these days. or please, at least, you don't open emails._

Evie furrows her eyebrows as she reads it, actually unaware of what was about to hit her.

_it's funny how much time we've spent time together, i didn't know what i've been feeling. harry and i talked a little bit and he said something about falling in love is like discovering your favorite song, guess he's right._

She remembers that day. It was the day when they just got back from the Isle. She was laughing at something Gil said when she sees the purple haired fae, staring at her through the door.

_i remember that time i heard this one song, and i knew that shit existed in my playlist but one day, it was different. then i repeated it, over and over until i couldn't get enough of it. repeated it, on and on until i fell in love with the beat, the rythm, the vocals, the lyrics._

Tears cloud her vision once more and she quickly wipes them away, reading more of Mal's email as everyone else watched her patiently. Waiting for her to talk. Waiting for her to actually say something.

_then i saw you. i know this started off as a little thing for the sake of everyone, but right now, i'm thinking of you and i know that i'm utterly, completely, wickedly in love with you._

That's when her heart shatters and gets fixed all at once. She stares at her phone, longer than intended, still not believing any of the words Mal had said. That was all she needed to know.

_i admit, i'm taking some time before i even admit it but, hOly fUCk, you caught me, you always did, i was in love with you, always was and probably always will. i just realized it now._

And it's stupid because she didn't know soon enough. That she didn't ask her soon enough. That maybe if she did, Mal would still be here.

_anyways, if you ever read this and you actually have feelings for me, i'd like to take you out on a date some time, for real, though._

_i'm not expecting your answer but, ya know, fingers crossed._

_love, mal_

Then she stops reading. Her heart was pounding inside her chest as she stares at her friends. "Did-did you guys know?" She asks quietly, her voice barely above a whisper but still heard nonetheless.

Jay sits in front of her, takes her hand and strokes it the way Mal used to. "Know what, Eves?" He asks, just as quiet as Evie who only sighed in return. "That she was in love with me."

They all turned to each other, kinda weirded out by the question. Evie just rolls her eyes, "I know she was but did you guys ever know that she was _this_ in love?" She asks, finally getting "Ahhh's" and "Ohhhh's" from her friends.

"Well, yeah. Right when you told us it was so obvious." Ben supplies helpfully, Evie was just confused.

"Yeah, remember, back in Scotland? She literally dragged our asses as five in the morning to set the date up." Lonnie adds, smiling at Evie who only smiled at the memory.

"Plus, the fact that she asked all of the school without you knowing, we thought she couldn't but she did. And honestly, it was the best thing I ever saw." Jane smiles to a now grinning Evie.

"Now let me rephrase my question, did you guys know that I was _this_ in love with her?" She asks, waiting for her friends to reply, they all shrug and nod.

"You've done things for her we were surprised to see. You took her to an art museum, you stood up against her mother, you held her every day when the paparazzi can swoop in. Evie, you loved her so much that you're selfless enough to let her go." Jay rambles, earning a big smile from Evie.

"Thank you, guys. I-I needed that." She grins, ushering them all to get into the hug.

Everyone went to their rooms a few minutes after that. Everyone with the exception if Evie who immediately took a shower before locking her door shut.

She stares at her closet, then to her luggage. If there was anything she'll do tonight, it's running after her.

Mal stares at the trees, the rain distorting the sights as her dad hummed a tune along with the radio.

It takes them an hour more to get to Auroria and another hour to Olympia. She was bored and her heart was broken.

Evie told her she loved her and she thought that maybe that was enough. That maybe that's all she needed to hear and it is but it's not quite.

It's not even a day and she already misses her smile, her laugh, her hair, her scent of apple and cinnamons. She just misses her.

And at the same time she's afraid that maybe Evie won't look at her the same ever again after she's read the email. That maybe she was just caught in the moment.

"What you thinking about, champ?" Hades asks gently as Mal removes her gaze from the window and moves it to her father. She shrugs.

"I'm fine, dad. Really." She mutters, not even bothering to hide the hurt and angst in her voice. Hades scoffs, knowing better.

"Come on, tell me what it is. You know you can talk to me." He smiles, meeting his daughter's gaze on the rear-view mirror. She sighs.

"It's not even a day and I already miss everyone. I already miss Chad's obnoxious voice, Gil talking non-stop about food, Lonnie scaring the bejeezus out of me, Jane stuttering whenever Carlos and her talk, Ben's constant love eyes on Harry, Uma's sarcasm, Audrey's squeals, Jay's annoying cockiness and- and," She quiets down, Hades doesn't want to dampen her mood but he wants to know.

" _And_?" He asks, Mal just sniffs, "I miss Evie. I miss the way she laughs, the way her nose scrunches together whenever she snorts. I miss her correcting me whenever I mispronounce or misuse a word. I miss her intelligent comebacks."

"I miss her smile, her eyes, her hair. God, dad, I miss everything about her. Every little thing that it's ridiculous." She huffs, slumping back down on her seat as Hades laughs, "You're so in love with her, aren't you?"

Mal doesn't even deny it this time. She just nods and sighs, "Yeah, dad. I'm madly in love with her."

Evie stares at her work proudly. The heaping amount of clothes now folded neatly and packed into bags. Her art supplies and fabrics into separate bags. Everything was packed. She was more than ready to go.

She then looks at her offers, practically searching for her scholarship in Olympia when she sees an unusual pink envelope. That was weird. Fairy Academy sent her a letter and she just found out about it now.

She smirks, towing her stuff outside silently as she hailed for a cab on the corner of the street.

Audrey woke up to the sound of the door closing. She bolts upright, not even waking Uma up in the process so she goes on to check the door alone.

She rounded the house, checked every window, every room, everything except for Evie.

She opens the door to her room, a frown etched on her face as she sees the interior. It was, bare.

Evie wasn't here.

_Fuck_. Evie wasn't here.

"Uma!" She yells, awakening the Sea Witch who scrambled towards the princess, "What? Are you okay?"

"Evie's missing." She says bluntly, not even realizing that she also got the attention of the other housemates. Carlos furrows his eyebrows, "What do you mean she's missing?"

"Well, she's not here." Ben supplies, looking around the room to find no one. "Maybe she's in the restroom. Now that everything's fine, I'm going back to sleep." Jay smiles sarcastically, about to leave when Jane spots a note on the pillowcase.

"Guys, does note mean missing or she left?" She asks, achieving everyone's attention as they all looked at her, "What?"

She then waves the note, passing it to Ben who began reading it.

"Dear everyone, after a lot of realization and thinking, I've come to a conclusion that I'm leaving. I need to. Not really sure when do I get to talk to you next but I will. I love you, guys. From, Evie." He reads, Jay steals it away from him, reading the lines over and over.

"Oh god, we have to stop her." He mutters, "Why?"

"Because if something happens to her, we're going to be actual toast when Mal burns us!" He exclaims exasperatedly, everyone nods along.

Evie walked to the corner, lifting her heavy bags and stopping. She closes her eyes, shuffling through her envelopes as she waited for a taxi to come by.

"Hey, hey, where are you going?" A soft voice asks from behind her, sending chills down her spine.

Evie freezes in her spot, closing her eyes and about to tell this person not to tell anyone or to like, mind their own business when she sees green eyes staring straight back at her. "Are you leaving?"

Evie doesn't speak, only stare at the person before her who smiles. Smiles like nothing went wrong. Smiles like she didn't leave her alone.

"D-Did you forget something?" She finally asks, out of all the questions that ran through her mind, that was the one she opeted for. Mal smirks, "Kinda. I kinda forgot that I'm a dumbass and I can't leave the one person I love behind."

"And to prove to you how much I love you," Mal smirks, stepping back and cupping her hands around her mouth as she began yelling; "Genevieve Morell Queen, I, Mal Bertha Moors, is so damn in love with you that I don't plan on letting you go!"

Evie just watches in awe as this fire in her begins to grow and grow every second. It stops and reaches it's maximum when Mal finally looks at her.

"You're an asshole but I fucking love you too." She replies before throwing herself to the girl, kissing her like her whole life depended on it. Mal caught her, thankfully.

She pulls away first, just admiring Evie's beauty in the night as she tucks a stray hair away. "I'm in love with you, E." She whispers, still holding on to the blue haired princess who just smiled at her. "I'm in love with you too."

She didn't even feel nervous when leaning in to kiss her again. It felt natural. Like she was born to do this.

Her friends watched from afar, all sharing panicked looks when they saw Evie being held by a complete stranger on the waiting area.

Jay clenches his fists, marching towards the stranger when he sees blue and purple mixing together.

"It-It's Mal and Evie." He grins, pointing at the two as he stopped everyone.

They were so caught up in their own moment they didn't even realize they had their friends cheering from them just a road away.

They kissed, under the moonlight, where stars watched them and etched the moment in their memory.

Finally, everything was falling into the right places. Finally, they were in love. They were falling in love, together.

"So, when do we start this happily ever after thing?" Mal mumbles against her lover's lips, Evie smiles, "Whenever we want to."

And judging by this, we can all say that they lived Happily Ever After.

Or, so you thought.


	16. epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the last one.

Evie opens her eyes, basking in the Los Angeles sunlight as the horrid sound of her alarm clock went on and on. She groans, turning it off before hitting her head again on the pillows. 

It's been a month since she left. Left Auradon and went to Los Angeles. 

A month since she tried running after Mal but she was too afraid that maybe, just maybe, Mal doesn't love her anymore. So the moment the cab arrived, she took a look at her scholarship offers and did the unthinkable. She accepts her offer from UCLA and didn't turn back. 

It's been the fifth time she dreamt about her. It's like her brain doesn't want her to forget. 

"Hey, Uma, how are you?" Mal asks as she opens her curtains, smiling at the sight of New York City. Uma chuckles, "So, you're in New York, huh?" She teases, making Mal laugh a little, "Yeah." 

It was funny how she even ended up here. Or maybe it hurts but you know her, she uses humor as her fucking defence mechanism. Her coping mechanism. The way she moves on. 

She came back for Evie because the moment she stepped foot on Fairy Academy, dear Lucifer she knew something wasn't right. So she took her Vespa, drove herself back to Auradon for two hours just to arrive knowing that Evie left. 

No one knew where she went, no one knew when she left. No one knew if she was coming back so Mal went back to Auroria. Took everything she owned and drove herself to the airport. Unaware that she and Evie were just two gates away as she accepted her offer in Midtown.

"How does New York sound to you?" She asks the Sea Witch who could be heard choking at whatever the hell she was eating. "What do you fucking mean?" She retorts, recovering from what just happened. "I'm asking you to come here."

"Hey, Auds." Evie chirps as she walks inside the coffeeshop, getting in line while Audrey hums a reply, "I was walking in LA and suddenly, I thought to myself. How about I ask you to come with me?" 

The princess drops whatever she was holding, Evie was sure that her mouth was agape. "You want me to what?" She shrieks, Evie cringes, removing her phone from her ear before talking to the princess again. "Stay with me in LA."

They didn't ask for each other. Mal didn't even think of Evie. 

They had their time and it didn't end well and there's nothing they could even do about it. 

Maybe Auradon wasn't a place of 'Happily Ever After' all along.


	17. epilogue (alternate.)

Mal opens her eyes, catching her breath desperately as she held her side. It was throbbing, a dull pain shooting up her arm as she tried standing up. 

She gasps, realizing where she was. "Shit, shit, _shit_." She mutters, ignoring the pain she was feeling as she sees Evie, lying down on the ground with blood coating her gloves. She then stares at where the blood was leading. 

Her side was busted open, blood oozing out of her as she groans, limping towards Evie, putting her up and lying her down on the bed, checking her pulse, which, thankfully was there. 

She desperately feels around her pockets for her phone, sighing in relief as she feels it, she checks the signal, only to have nothing. 

Staring outside the window, she realized that there was a barrier surrounding them, no bridge connecting the Isle and Auradon. She knits her eyebrows together in confusion, clutching her side once more as she takes a random rag on the floor, putting it above her wound. 

Again, she checks her phone, her eyes widening at the date. 

They were on the Isle of the Lost.

It was the 1st of January, 2015. Months before they were sent to Auradon. 

Years before the barrier was down. 


End file.
